Misery Loves Company
by Lia-Osaka92
Summary: Kise didn't know how to feel about Aomine's proposition. Him? The consolation prize? The "I'm just gonna' pretend it's okay when you call that other guy's name when we fuck?" No way, never, ever. "Yeah. Yeah, let's do that."
1. Losers love Comfort

Losing was a very unfamiliar feeling. He didn't remember the last time he'd lost. "The only one who can beat me, is me." He used to say. But he had been defeated. The feeling was crushing and painful, and at the same time, immensely relieving. It had been so long since he enjoyed himself so much during a match, so long since the last time he felt motivated to improve himself, knowing there was someone out there that was stronger than him. He was so excited about it! He couldn't wait to get back in the court and face him again. No, face _them_ again, without knowing for certain if he'd win or lose. And he'd win next time. He'd be stronger. He wouldn't be caught by surprise. He'd show Tetsu how good he truly was and then…

Tetsu. He didn't know why, but the more he thought about it the more he felt he _had_ to impress Tetsu, prove to him that his light would always shine brighter than anyone else's, especially brighter than Kagami's, and then maybe he'd want to go back to being _his_ shadow again, like it always should've been.

He shook his head violently when he realized how deeply those thoughts were latched into his mind. It was ridiculous. He had changed a lot, and so had Kuroko. Whoever they used to be back in Middle School was long lost, as was the connection that made them work as light and shadow. There was no going back to that time.

And more importantly, Kuroko had a new light. One that, much as he hated to admit, had shone brighter than his. And whatever connection the two of them had right now was leagues stronger than anything Aomine had ever had. He clenched his fist as the unavoidable memory of the two boys kissing flashed through his mind.

He wished he'd never seen that. It was only a fraction of a second. If his eyes had been elsewhere on the court, he would've missed it and everything would've been fine. But he hadn't, and now the image was permanently imprinted in his memory, and it hurt like bitch. It just figures that he'd come to realize his own feelings for Kuroko only after seeing him kiss Kagami and knowing he would never have him back.

 _Shit_.

His eyes stung a little. This was pathetic.

"That was an amazing game, Aominecchi. You were really cool."

Daiki snapped his head to look at his blond ex-teammate.

"Aaah. And here I was hoping I would be the one to beat you. Since Aominecchi is always saying 'the only one who can beat me, is me', I thought I could be the one to become ' _you'_ and beat you. Guess we were both wrong."

Aomine scowled. "If you only came to mock me…"

"That's mean, Aominecchi. You really think I'm the kind of guy to do something like that?"

"Then what else do you want, Kise?" he really wasn't in the mood to deal with Kise's stupidity right now.

The blond copy-cat sighed. "Is it that bad of me to come check on an old friend? I know Aominecchi the best, I just wanted to make sure you were okay, with _everything that happened_."

Aomine wasn't sure if he'd heard it right or if he'd only imagined it, but something in the way Kise said that last part made him believe he wasn't talking about the game. Could Kise possibly…? No, that was impossible, he hadn't been aware of his own feelings until just a little while ago. And besides, Kise had been seating way up there among the crowd, there was no way he'd seen Kagami and Kuroko kissing.

The thought made his eyes sting again.

"Seriously, Aominecchi, when you make that face you make things really difficult for me. You probably don't know it, but I hate seeing Aominecchi cry. I can't stand it."

Before Aomine could ask what the hell he was talking about, Kise was standing in front of him and pulling his face downwards by the chin to press their lips together in a lightning-flash kiss. The blond boy pulled back almost immediately, his eyes glued to the ground and his face turning a bright red color.

"Ah… I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have done that. Sorry."

And he dashed away from the scene before Aomine could process what had just happened.

The dark-skinned ace covered his mouth with his hand and his face grew hot.

 _What the hell?_

* * *

A few days later, Aomine found himself watching the Kaijou vs. Fukuda Sogo quarter-final match and smiling to himself when Kise turned the game around with his Perfect Copy. He remembered when he'd first seen that technique and experienced it on the court. Back then, merely a couple of months ago, it had been incomplete and Kise had pushed himself too hard and injured himself, but it had still been a little scary. He didn't want to imagine facing Kise again, now that he had a better hang of it. Akashi had been completely right when he'd said Kise had the most potential out of the lot of them. If he kept improving that Perfect Copy he would become unstoppable.

His hand moved distractedly to graze his lips and he blushed remembering the foreign pair that had touched them just a few days ago. His eyes scanned the bleachers to find the shock of baby-blue hair that stuck out, right next to a firey red one and his heart clenched. He clicked his tongue in frustration and exited the stadium, wanting to clear his head of every confusing thought.

* * *

In the end it had all been useless, Kise mused. They'd lost. He choked on his tears as Kasamatsu-senpai dragged him out of the court, for his foot hurt so much he could hardly walk anymore. If he'd gone back to the game five seconds earlier, just five more seconds… Even Kurokocchi's praise didn't make him feel any better. Didn't Kasamatsu-senpai say his job as an ace was to keep moving forward and guide the team to victory? What was the point of being unstoppable if he had failed to meet his ultimate goal?

He limped out of the locker room. He needed air, desperately and he felt too ashamed to face his teammates and hear Kasamatsu-senpai and the other third years bid their farewells. It hurt too much.

Suddenly, he bumped into another person, and the pain on his injured foot made him lose his balance. He stretched his arms trying to avoid crashing on the ground face-first, but something held him by the elbow firmly, keeping him from falling. The same force pulled him back on his feet and tch'ed in annoyance.

"Damnit Kise, pay attention to where you're going."

He rose his face to find a pair of dark blue eyes, not too different from the sky in the dead of night and his cheeks heated up.

"A-a-aominecchi…"

He'd been avoiding his friend, rival and crush ever since that day when control and reason had slipped through his fingers long enough to make him think that kissing him was a good idea. In his defense, Aominecchi had looked beautiful with his sad defeated face and Kise had wanted to comfort him and conveniently decided to forget that one of the reasons Aominecchi was hurting was because he'd just discovered he had one-sided feelings for his former shadow. It wasn't a very strong defense, he realized in hindsight.

He opened his mouth, trying to apologize for what he'd done. It had been rude and insensitive and selfish. But before he could utter any word, Aomine smiled at him and said "I know you don't really want to hear this, but that was a great game." And something inside him cracked, he felt the tears overflow his eyes once again and before he could reign himself back he had thrown his arms around Aominecchi's neck and, with a strangled cry of his name, the name of the man he loved, found his way back to those dark lips he'd dreamed about for so long. He felt those strong arms embrace him back and his partner's lips started moving against him, hesitantly, clumsily, but soothing and hungry at the same time.

Kise felt warm inside. For a brief, wonderful moment, he wondered if his feelings had finally reached Aominecchi, if he'd finally understood how much he meant to him. But right when he was about to deepen the kiss, he was pushed back and took a wrong step that made him wince in pain. He looked up at Aomine, who was blushing and panting.

"S-s-sorry, Kise…" he started, averting his gaze to avoid his friend's golden eyes. "I… this is very confusing…" he wiped his lips mechanically. "I just… I can't… return your feelings…"

"Ah" Yes, of course, what had he even been thinking? Aominecchi had been crushing so hard on Kurokocchi since forever, there was no way it would disappear overnight. And in spite of being aware of that, Kise thought he might want to call an ambulance right now, because his heart was positively, literally broken and had stopped beating and shit. He bit his lip to hold back some tears and clenched his hand over the left side of his chest, on that spot that felt like it was being torn apart.

"That's mean, Aominecchi… if that's your answer, don't hold me like it's the other way around." He mumbled sadly, briefly remembering the warmth of that embrace and regretting not having imprinted it on his mind when he had the chance.

Of course this was going to happen. He wanted to slap himself. What had he even hoped for? He'd always known Aominecchi liked Kurokocchi. This love polygon was never going to have a happy ending for him. Honestly, he deserved to get hurt like this, he'd basically begged for it when he'd kissed Aominecchi, who was probably as heartbroken as he was, just to satisfy his selfish desires. Aomine would've never forced himself like that on the person he loved. This sucked so bad and he wished the ground could swallow him whole.

"No what… what I mean is that… you know there's someone I… l-l-l-like…" Aomine blushed and scratched his nose, still not wanting to meet Kise's eyes. "But it's… it's never gonna work out…" Kise could see the pain in his face. "I-I've been thinking about this, okay? Since the other day…" the memory made him blush even harder. "I can't l-l-like you in _that_ way but… we could still hang out and… do some _other stuff_."

At first, Kise didn't know how to feel about that proposition. Him? The consolation prize? The "I'm just gonna' pretend it's okay when you call that other guy's name when we fuck?" No way, never, ever. It was almost insulting that Aomine would suggest it. No. He deserved better than that. His self-respect was a lot higher than this. He would not stoop to this, no matter how much it hurt and how much he wanted it and how good that kiss had felt, because he had self-worth and he'd—"Yeah… yeah, let's do that."

 _Shit._

 **To be continued**

This is a story I've been writing on and off for almost a year, and finally decided to start publidhing it for Aomine's birthday, our precious, stupid, angsty teenager virgin. I just love the trope of one-sided Aokuro becomes mutual Aokise and I'd been really excited about writing it. I hope you enjoy it, please let me know your thoughts. It has been really hard to write it (I have a couple of chapters drafted out already), but I think I like where it's going.

Please leave comments or thoughts, I'd really like to know what you think of this since it's my first time writing Aokise


	2. Friends love Benefits

Some seven hours later, Aomine lay naked on his empty bed, staring at the ceiling and wondering if he should feel sated or utterly disgusted with himself. He started going over everything that had happened today and how it had somehow led to letting Kise pound his ass like a dog in heat.

" _Hey Aominecchi_?" Kise had whispered as he pulled down his pants. " _If we're really gonna' do this I have one rule and if you break it the deal's over, alright?"_ his tone had been serious, as was the glint in his golden eyes.

He wasn't sure if it was the heartbreak, his pent-up energy from not playing basketball in a while, or just his teenage hormones raging, but he was way more eager about banging another guy than he ever though he'd be, and he'd honestly sign a blood contract if it got Kise to stop stalling and get shit done already.

" _Look, I'm okay if you wanna' close your eyes and think of someone else if that's what gets you going, but you absolutely can't say their name, no matter what. I'll never forgive you if you do that._ "

He understood instantly and nodded –he had never seen Kise look so deadly serious-, but the comment made all his excitement deflate momentarily. He'd never really thought about lusting for Tetsu. He wasn't even completely caught up with the fact that he had feelings for his former shadow, he sure as hell hadn't imagined being in this kind of situation with him. Was it really okay to do this? Wasn't he just hurting himself and Kise and defiling Tetsu in the process? The question lingered in his mind for a minute before Kise pushed him down on the mattress and kissed him rough and filthy, hot and open-mouthed; he could hardly keep up with it (and this was just his third kiss, and the thought that all three had gone to Kise made something strange twist in his chest) which effectively erased every rational thought from his brain.

He didn't remember much after that. It had been fast, and hot and it felt good. Damn Kise knew exactly what he was doing and Aomine had felt like a messy, stupid pile of goo incapable of keeping up or doing anything other than lay there and let Kise do whatever he pleased.

Kise had said he was free of thinking whatever he wanted, but the truth was it would've been difficult –if not impossible- to imagine Tetsu in Kise's position. Their body types were too different. Tetsu wouldn't be so bold and aggressive, he imagined, and he would get tired easily, he had no stamina at all. Kise exuded lust and anger, but Tetsu would probably take it easier, go step by step, maybe even tease him by doing it too slow on purpose. His cock twitched lightly and he cursed under his breath. So much for not lusting for Tetsu.

A gale of wind came through the window and it made him shiver slightly. He briefly regretted not having someone to keep him warm tonight. His heater was not working properly and the winter was growing chillier by the day. He'd tried to convince Kise to stay over, but he had waved his hand dismissively as he rushed to put his clothes back on and said "they're waiting for me at the hotel. It would be weird if I went missing and then we showed up together to the finals tomorrow".

 _It wouldn't be weird_ , Aomine had thought, _because we're friends, dumbass_ , but he hadn't had the voice to say it. Were they really still friends after this? They used to be really close back in the day, but ever since entering high school they had never been truly buddy-buddy. Still, they got along just fine and they played great one-on-ones. Had his raging hormones and his broken heart actually ruined his slowly rebuilding friendship with Kise? He didn't want to keep thinking so hard about this, but he found he couldn't sleep either.

He looked over at the clock to see it was barely two in the morning and he groaned. This was going to be a horribly long night.

* * *

"Oi, Kise! Where the fuck have you been?!" Kasamatsu-senpai yelled the moment he stepped into their shared bedroom. He really wished he were back at home where he could lock himself and cry his eyes dry and never get out of bed. He ignored Kasamatsu's inquiries and just buried himself under the bedsheets, hiding his face from his senpai's view and letting his tears flow freely.

 _I'm such an idiot. I can't believe I'm such an idiot_. He kept repeating to himself, trying to hold back the sobs. Then again, if Kasamatsu asked, he could just say he was still bitter from losing. And he was, in fact, extremely bitter from losing. To Kurokocchi. Twice in one day.

 _Of course he'd think of Kurokocchi, what else was I expecting? That he'd fall in love with me if I fucked him? That having Aominecchi once would make it all better? That kissing him even if it was fake would be good enough?_ Yes, that was exactly what he'd thought and the only reason for that was that he was a hopeless imbecile.

Everything about this was wrong, oh so fucking wrong and he hated Aominecchi for bringing it up and making it impossible for him to say no. Because how could he, really? He'd loved that oblivious dickhead for such a long time, longed for him so much, dreamt of his touch, fantasized about his kisses and his embrace, he'd touched himself so many times imagining how it would feel like when he held him in his arms and made love to him… how could he have refused when the man himself had been the one to suggest it? _If you weren't so stupid you could've just said no_ , he told himself. But he _was_ stupid and the only thing this whole mess had accomplished was hurt him deeper and realize that Aominecchi would never love him and very possibly ruined their friendship forever. And now he couldn't even see Kurokocchi in the eye because he was ashamed of himself, and because seeing him reminded him of Aominecchi and how unfair it was that Kurokocchi was happy with his love while all he could do was cling to Aominecchi's loveless consolation sex and hurt himself in the process.

Kise knew it wasn't fair of him to be mad at Kuroko. He probably didn't even know about Aomine's feelings for him. Even if he was a great observer, his own conflicted emotions and the tragic way in which their friendship had broken in middle school had probably kept him from noticing. And honestly, even if Kuroko often dissed him and turned him down, Kise loved him like a long lost brother and he admired him for his passion and efforts. So it was really cruel that he couldn't look at Kuroko without being angry because of Aomine. This was all Aomine's fault. He should've never fallen for such an inconsiderate asshole.

The worst part of it all was that Aominecchi himself was probably not being inconsiderate and mean on purpose. Knowing him, it was more likely that he didn't want to hurt Kise's feelings and, being unable to work around his own heartbreak, had thought this would be the best solution for them both. Maybe he'd even thought Kise would be happy about it, and that if at least one of them could be happy then it should be okay. That this had most likely been his actual thought process made it even more painful. Why did Aominecchi's attempt at kindness end up being so cruel? Why hadn't he realized that Kise wouldn't be happy with a fake relationship?

Which left all the blame back on him alone. He was the only one of the parties involved (could Kurokocchi even count as involved?) that really knew what everything was about and he could've stopped this before anything happened, but he'd been too weak. He should've never kissed Aominecchi. He shouldn't have said yes. Now everything was fucked up and all he could do was curl in a ball and cry until the sun came out.

* * *

Because Kise's life wasn't miserable enough, he also had to sit through the third-place match and watch Midorimacchi and his boyfriend (Midorimacchi probably wanted to hide it, but they were so horribly obvious it wasn't even funny) destroy his team because he was too injured to play. Nothing was going his way these days. He caught a glimpse of Aominecchi watching, probably waiting for the finals to begin and all he could do was pray that they wouldn't stumble upon each other because he wouldn't know what to do.

Usually he would've liked to tease Midorima about his very-obvious boyfriend and then Midorima would get all red, all the way to his ears, and tell him that he should die but that would've been fine, just like the good old days. But right now he was too bitter that even fucking Midorima Shintarou was together and happy with the person he liked and this was ridiculous. People called him lucky for his good looks and charming personality and gifted for his abilities at sports, but in the end he had been unable to get what he wanted from either of them. He was losing to everyone, in basketball and in love and it sucked. He wanted to get back home and get away from his miracle friends so maybe he could forget how shitty everything had turned out for him and how jealous he was the everything was working perfectly for everyone else.

* * *

The Winter Cup ended and Kise managed to avoid meeting Aomine again, so it was with relief that he made it back to the hotel. Tomorrow they would have a farewell party for the retiring seniors before returning to Kanagawa and then he would have time to clear out his mind and get his shit together.

But then his phone buzzed and Aominecchi's name popped up on the screen. He sighed.

"Hey, Kise? Uh… are you free tomorrow? I kind of… want to talk about stuff… like face to face…? If that's okay with you…"

Ryouta smiled sadly. Aominecchi had probably felt as bad as him about what happened and wanted to fix it somehow and now there was no way Kise could stay mad at him.

"Yeah, sure. I'm free all morning. Wanna meet somewhere?" He was always amazed by his own ability to play it cool even if he felt nothing but turmoil and unhappiness inside.

The other's tone became lighter, Kise noticed, as if he'd regained a sort of confidence "There's a street ball court—no, uh, sorry… I mean… Is Hachiko okay for you?"

He realized Aominecchi had probably hoped to make things better with a one-on-one but had remembered about his injury and figured it would actually make it worse. Kise felt like an idiot for finding that casual thoughtfulness so endearing. This was the reason he always wound up getting hurt.

"Sure, no problem. Been wanting to get some air."

They agreed on a meeting time and Kise shut the phone with a sigh. Once again he probably should've said no and gone back home avoiding all contact with Aominecchi until the issue was behind them, but a part of him wanted to hope that not all was lost and that they could still be friends somehow. He didn't want to keep carrying this awkward burden, or feel so hollow and miserable when thinking of the man he loved. All he could do was hope and trust that somehow everything would work out.

* * *

Kise was running ten minutes late, but he wasn't that concerned. Aominecchi had a talent to always be late, even when he promised he wouldn't, and Kise was okay with that. So he leisurely strolled out of the train and allowed himself to be dragged by the Shibuya crowd outside of the station. And standing there next to the loyal dog's statue, with a nervous look on his face, was the always-late Aomine Daiki. Kise bit his lip. He wasn't wearing anything special: a white cotton t-shirt and a black denim jacket with red highlights on top, black jeans and so on. And yet Kise couldn't stop the pounding of his heart. He himself was wearing a loose brown tee with a wine red blazer on top, a grey scarf and washed down orange jeans. Maybe he should've dressed better. He shook the thought out of his head. This wasn't a date. They weren't a thing. He ought to get rid of these useless ideas.

"Aominecchi! Sorry to keep you waiting!" he called, a little bit embarrassed.

Aomine's face rose to meet his gaze. He looked insecure, almost doubtful and when he spoke, he stuttered "N-no, don't worry… I j-just got here…Ah! Is your leg good enough to be walking? Sorry."

Kise chuckled. "Yeah, it's bandaged. Should be fine." He reassured, feeling his heart throb just a little.

They stood in front of each other in silence, trying to think of what to say. _This is awkward_ , Kise thought to himself, _it was a bad idea after all_. Given Aomine's track record of ideas recently, he shouldn't be surprised. Maybe this was beyond saving in the end. He was about to say so, but Aomine spoke first.

"Mai-chan's new album just came out and I was thinking of getting it, if that's okay with you. I'll buy you a Starbucks later."

Kise smiled because that was the only thing he could do against Aomine's attempts at making things normal again.

"Cool! There's a winter special I've been dying to try." he replied, feeling a lot better about this whole thing already as he turned heels and started heading towards the records store.

Aomine sighed in relief when he saw his friend's sunny smile. Yes, this had been a good idea after all.

* * *

Kise sipped his hot beverage tentatively. _Still too hot_ he thought, pouting. His tongue was very sensitive and he didn't want to get it scalded. He was in an amazingly good mood now, even after watching Aominecchi awkwardly ogle Mai-chan's boobs in the album cover, because that was just so naturally Aominecchi it really seemed like nothing had happened between them.

"Hey, Kise? I… I really want to talk about… the other day. I-I know maybe we should… try to f-forget and act like n-n-nothing happened but that… it feels wrong to me."

The blond model sipped the coffee again to have an excuse to stay silent and nodded in an _I'm listening_ fashion before looking away.

Aomine hesitated for a moment. He swallowed hard and gripped his cup tightly. "I was… very mean to you. It wasn't intentional but I thought about it… and I realized I ended hurting you and I'm sorry for that. I put you in an awful position and I feel terrible about it… I'm… I'm really sorry."

Kise allowed himself a small smile. Truly, it was impossible to stay angry at Aomine. "Don't beat yourself up about it. _I_ should've refused."

Aomine's gaze was locked to the table and his cheeks were slightly flushed. His fingers trembled and he chewed on his lip briefly, trying to find the words to get the message across. "No but… I mean… you… you have… f-f-feelings for me… and you were… hurt. I just… I feel like I took advantage of your feelings… I mean… if I had been in your position I… wouldn't have been able to refuse either."

Kise chuckled mirthlessly. _You got that one absolutely right_ , he thought to himself. "It's okay, really. That Aominecchi would even take my feelings into consideration like this is already enough for me." His hand drifted absentmindedly and stopped millimeters away from Aomine's. He almost twitched, wanting to reach out and hold that chocolate-colored hand and lace their fingers together, but he held himself back. He wasn't lying. It was ridiculous, but just the fact that Aominecchi acknowledged his feelings, accepted them and didn't reject him for them was enough to make him feel butterflies in his stomach. It was almost annoying, how easily Aomine could stir his emotions without even noticing he was doing it.

Aomine didn't seem too pleased with his answer, but sighed anyway. "So we're good, right?" he asked, finally turning to look at Kise in the eye.

"Yeah, we're good." Kise smiled, feeling a little more light-hearted. His drink had finally cooled down enough to drink, so he took a large gulp, letting it warm him up inside.

They sat in silence for a while longer, but it was a nice silence. Neither of them felt on edge anymore, the whole mood had lost its awkwardness and turned quite pleasant. Kise briefly considered that he wouldn't mind staying like this for a very long time.

"This is okay, isn't it? Just hanging like this… it's kinda nice…" Aomine said suddenly, almost too quietly to be heard.

"Yeah, this is pretty neat."

"Because… what I said the other day… about us…" he took a sip from his own drink and breathed deeply, apparently trying to find the confidence to say his thoughts out loud. "I mean, I know it was _wrong_ but… doing that kind of stuff… it wasn't so bad." Kise forgot about his own drink momentarily, kind of confused by what Aomine was saying. "What I mean is we could do _that_ kind of stuff and _this_ kind of stuff too and it could somehow work out… It doesn't have to be horrible and awkward, right?" his hand moved ever so slightly to close the distance and graze the side of Kise's hand so lightly any normal person would've missed the touch. Kise wasn't just any normal person, though, and more importantly, he wasn't stupid enough to not understand the extremely obvious implication.

Kise stayed silent for a minute. Unlike the last time, his mind wasn't in complete disarray and he could actually think about Aomine's proposal properly. For starters he didn't know if he should feel flattered because Aominecchi had sort of implied he'd enjoyed being fucked by him or if maybe he should melt into a pile of pathetic lovesick goo because Aominecchi was _sort of touching his hand_. He really needed to get his shit together, he couldn't go around in life getting so worked up over something like that.

"So you're proposing we become like… friends with benefits?"

"Uh… yeah, I guess that's a good term."

Kise frowned. "What's in it for you?" it was a strange offer. They didn't even live in the same prefecture, for starters, so meeting up would be a pain in the ass, especially for a lazybum as Aomine was. Kise himself had a lot to win (sort of). He'd never confessed his feelings because he knew he'd be rejected and he didn't want to lose Aomine's friendship, but if he could keep that and still hang out and have fun like this with the plus of (loveless) sex and kisses and hugs and all that stuff that made him warm and fuzzy… But if Aominecchi only wanted to do it because he felt obliged towards Kise's feelings, he was definitely going to decline, no matter how tempting it was.

Surprisingly, Aomine blushed a deep shade of red in response and looked away, although his hand inched closer and two fingers rested lightly on the back of Kise's hand. "I already told you… going out like this is nice… and the other stuff wasn't too bad either."

All of Kise's doubts were suddenly swept away and instead he started pondering if he should get himself a t-shirt with the words "I fucked Aomine Daiki and he loved it" written in big bold letters. But no, he needed to get his mind in the right place. Last time he'd felt like utter trash because they had both jumped into it like complete heartbroken idiots without really thinking things through. "You're sure about this? You'd be okay if I… wanted to kiss you or other stuff? I mean… isn't it weird to be with someone who thinks of you that way?"

Aomine eyed him nonchalantly. "We've already crossed that line, haven't we?"

 _Yeah, that's true_. They'd already fucked, and it's not like they could magically undo it. So now that the line was crossed, it shouldn't be a big deal to just continue down the same road. And anyway, they lived far apart, it's not like they would meet very often, so there wouldn't be weird emotional attachments (well, Kise was already attached, but the distance would keep him from getting weird ideas like _maybe he actually likes me_ , _maybe he wants me for real_ ). Little by little, the objections started dying in his head.

"Alright then, I'm in!" he replied finally, a smile on his lips. A tiny voice in the back of his head was screaming " _You're still a consolation prize_ " and " _I wanted him to be mine, but not like this_ ", but then Aomine smiled back at him and the voices died as he leaned in to peck his new friend-with-benefits on the mouth.

 **To be continued**

Did I ever mention we would get a lot of Bottom!mine? No? I'm telling you now. Though in all fairness, it's gonna be more like reversible, because reversible AoKise is the hottest thing ever and I totally see them both as the type who enjoys giving and receiving.

The locations in Shibuya are based on real life, there's a Tower Records (iirc) shop right across the street from Hachiko's statue, and on the second floor there's a Starbucks that has a perfect view of Shibuya's famous five-way crossing.

I hope you guys like this chapter, I didn't expect to get so many nice comments about the previous one, thanks everyone! I promise we're in for a ride of teenage angst and lovesick pain and also some cute friendship and dorkiness. So please hang on with me and let me know what you think! All comments are appreciated!


	3. Tight shorts and Tight jeans

Kise's phone buzzed.

 _Aominecchi 3: Plans for the weekend?_

His lips curled upwards ever so slightly. How long had it been since he'd put that little heart icon on Aomine's name?

 _You: Nothing special, why?_

 _Aominecchi 3: Mind if I drop by?_

He quirked a fine eyebrow upward, curious. 'Drop by' wasn't really what he'd call taking a one-hour train ride. Aomine clearly had more than just a casual visit in mind. He sighed.

 _You: Sure, just bring condoms._

The screen showed Aomine was typing for around three minutes. Kise waited patiently, imagining a faint blush in Aominecchi's dark cheeks, and he smiled in spite of himself. The 'typing' sign disappeared, but no new message showed up. Instead, the screen lit up with the sign "Incoming call from Aominecchi 3".

His curiosity now legitimately peaked; Kise pressed the smartphone to his ear after sliding his thumb over the green button.

"What's up Aominecchi?" he replied in a sing-song voice that masked his inner anxiety. Maybe Aominecchi wanted to call quits on the whole 'friends with benefits' business. He chewed on his lower lip, realizing he wasn't even sure of whether he wanted that or not.

"Are you an idiot? I told you we didn't have to d-d-do that every time." Kise could almost _hear_ the blush on Aomine's cheeks going deeper and he chuckled. "I just thought we could… hang or something… You told me you bought the new Mortal Kombat, right?" his voice trailed off at the end, as if he had run out of last minute excuses. Because that's what this was, a complete bullshit excuse, Kise knew.

"It seems a bit much to take a one-hour train just to play Mortal Kombat, though? Doesn't someone from your team have it? I'm sure Kagam-…." He cut himself off. That was it. Something must've happened with Kuroko and Kagami. Maybe Aomine saw them kissing again (Kise had never thought Kurokocchi would be one for PDA, but life was apparently full of surprises). He sighed again. "At what time are you coming? I'll pick you up at the station." That little voice at the back of his mind started to scream _CONSOLATION PRIZE_ again, but he shut it up. At least Aominecchi wanted to spend time with _him_ over _almost_ everyone else, he told himself.

"Nah, I think I still remember how to get to your place. Your leg's still bad, you shouldn't move around pointlessly like that." Aomine replied, sounding more relaxed.

Kise chewed on his lip again, and only let go when he felt he was about to break the skin. Every time he thought Aominecchi would finally go too far, do something too cruel so he could finally hate him, he came up with a random, mindless moment of gentle thoughtfulness that would squeeze his heart until it burst. This was so unfair.

"Sure, just call me if you get lost." He forced out, hoping Aomine wouldn't notice his voice breaking at the end.

"Cool, see ya then."

"I love you." Kise muttered to the speaker after he heard the click that signaled the end of the call.

* * *

Aomine fidgeted nervously, glaring holes at the door with Kise's name written on it. Why was he getting so antsy about this? They were just going to play videogames and maybe catch some shitty movie on late-night TV. Kise's family would be home so they wouldn't be able to do any funny business and he didn't want to. Because they could be just friends, and leave the ' _benefits'_ part of their agreement out from time to time. They'd been texting for the past week or so and everything seemed fine. Kise was annoying as fuck, but he was fun to hang out with. Things didn't have to be awkward just because they'd fucked once or twice (one and a half, to be precise, if getting a little bit too adventurous with your hands on someone else and their hands on you counted).

He looked at his cellphone trying to gather his courage and saw the date on the screen. January 31st. He bit his lip.

" _Hey, Tetsu, any plans for your birthday?"_

" _Nothing special. Kagami-kun is coming over to my place for dinner, my mother even convinced him to help her bake a cake. I feel a little bit sorry for him, to be honest, she is quite a disaster in the kitchen."_

He wouldn't have been able to tell by his tone, but his eyes were sparkling. He was clearly looking forward to it. Why was it just now that he noticed how cute Tetsu looked when he was excited? His life was a complete joke.

* * *

Kise nearly jumped out of his skin when the doorbell rang.

"Mom, can you get the door?" he called from his room, rushing to the mirror in a panic to do something about his hair because it just wasn't working today. And damnit, if he was going to be a consolation prize, he wanted to be the most gorgeous one Aomine had ever seen. His hair, though, had a different idea, as it seemed to be stubbornly set on the "I just woke up" look. He didn't have Kuroko's level of insane bed hair, but it wasn't quite the "you know I'm hotter than him" vibe he was aiming for.

He nearly slammed his head on the mirror when he realized the level of idiocy that was running through his mind. What did he think he was doing, trying to compete with Kuroko? Even if he was more attractive than his phantom friend, looks were not the thing that made Aomine fall for him. Kuroko had a natural gentleness, he was soft and cute and when he smiled he looked like an angel, even Kise had to admit that much.

"Ryouta! It's Aomine-kun!" his mother called.

A sigh of defeat left his lips when he took one last look at his reflection. Maybe it'd be best to settle for an "I'm not trying hard to look good for you". This was so stupid.

* * *

He smiled politely at Kise's mom as he walked in. He hadn't been to Kise's home many times, maybe three or four when they were in second year, but he definitely remembered the blond beauty that looked more like a hot older sister than a mother of three. Now, though, it felt wrong to think of her like that, and he wasn't sure if it was because he was older now or because he'd lost his virginity to her son. He blushed at the thought.

"Aominecchi!"

Kise finally appeared jogging down the stairs. Aomine couldn't help but notice he was looking very pretty. He was wearing tight black jeans (since when were Kise's legs so attractive?) and a long-sleeved red shirt with a v-cut on the neck that exposed just a little bit of collarbone (he'd taken a bite of those once and it had been great). His hair looked slightly messy, like how it had been the last time they'd met, when Kise had put an end to their long make-out session saying he had a party with the rest of his team and Aomine had barely had time to register just how ravished his blond friend looked before he disappeared. He really needed to stop having flashbacks about doing that kind of stuff with his _friend with whom he was going to play videogames period_ , but it was a really tough feat to achieve when Kise was looking so handsome.

Ever since realizing his feelings for Kuroko, he'd slowly started to take notice of other men around him. Mai-chan's boobs still got him going, but he had to admit Kagami's strong manly jaw was much more attractive than it had any right to be, or that Sakurai had just really nice skin, or how Wakamatsu had some damn fine legs. And then there was Kise, who was just really, really hot all around. He'd hoped that his feelings for Kuroko were just a unique and special thing, but as more time passed, he realized he couldn't just keep pretending he didn't get aroused by muscular thighs and toned pecs as much as he was by big breasts and plump lips (like Tetsu's). Everything was so fucking stupid.

* * *

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Oh, come on!"

"No! Nonononono! Fuck, NO!"

"DON'T DO THAT IDI-DAMNIT!" Aomine screamed at the TV with frustration. "Double or nothing!" he called with determination.

Kise gave him an "are you an idiot" look and put down the controller. "For starters, we're not even betting anything, and if we were, we'd be going at twenty-three times or nothing." He cracked a smile. "Let's take a break, we should go down and grab something to eat. I need to replenish my energy after kicking your sorry ass so many times." He chirped playfully.

Aomine scowled and stuck his tongue out with spite. When had Kise gotten so good at games anyway? That's one thing where Perfect Copy should be completely ineffective. He set the controller down and sighed. He really needed Kise's injury to get better soon so he could kick his ass in basketball and compensate for this humiliation.

* * *

"Ryouta! It's getting late, you should get the futon out for Aomine-kun!"

They'd both been mostly dozing off to a stupid superhero movie on TV, and Kise's mother's voice made them jolt startled, which ended in a painful disaster since Kise's head had been leaning on Aomine's shoulder and the surprise had caused his head to bump rather suddenly to the taller boy's jaw, making them both grunt and curse.

Once the initial stupor was cleared, Kise processed his mother's words and looked over at his friend in curiosity. "Are you staying over, Aominecchi?"

Aomine rubbed his jaw, still complaining from the pain, and took a moment before replying. "Huh? No, that wasn't really the plan, why?"

"Uh… it's just it's way past one, you won't be catching any trains now." Kise commented, glancing at the time on his cellphone, finally understanding what his mother had meant.

Daiki looked at his own cellphone, still drowsy enough to have a hard time processing long sentences. He cursed again when he realized that he was indeed not getting home tonight. "Well, damn. I guess that answers your question, unless you wanna' kick me out."

Kise pursed his lips and groaned. "I'll get the futon out."

* * *

"Hey, Aominecchi, do you want to borrow my pajamas? We should be roughly the same size." Kise commented casually, pulling out a t-shirt and a pair of trousers from a drawer and handing them to his friend. Truthfully, Aomine was a lot more built than him, but it was that or letting him sleep in the nude and he was not about to do that to himself.

Aomine took the clothes and proceeded to take off his shirt on the spot without much consideration. Kise actually _whined_ involuntarily when he caught a glimpse of dark skin, toned abs, and the trail of dark hair growing under Aomine's navel and going down until it was lost beneath his pants. He chewed on his lip and had to rush out of the room with a spluttered "I need water" that sounded a lot needier than it should have.

He went down to the kitchen trying to erase the image from his head. This was absurd, he'd seen Aomine naked half a million times in Teikou's showers and fucked him twice (okay, one and a half times, but once you wrap your hand around another guy's dick, whatever follows is all kinda, _sorta_ the same), just getting a glimpse of his naked torso shouldn't get to him like this.

And yet it did.

After downing two glasses of water and clearing his mind, he went back upstairs. It was half-past one in the morning so he was feeling awfully drowsy, and Aomine was just managing to rile him up more than usual, which didn't help.

"Oi, Kise, don't you have something bigger? This shit's tight as fuck."Aomine said the moment he walked into the bedroom. His back was turned to the door and lord almighty Kise's pajamas on him were tight alright. They clung to his muscular thighs almost like a second skin and hugged his butt lovingly. Kise felt the heat rush to his face again and he briefly contemplated going back to the kitchen, or maybe even taking a cold shower because the blood was flowing south at an alarming rate and Aominecchi had come as a friend and Kise shouldn't be getting these crazy ideas and hot damn people shouldn't look so delicious in pajamas.

This was going to be a long night.

* * *

Kise woke up with the first rays of sunlight and groaned. He rolled on to his stomach hoping to protect his eyes from the offending light, but he'd already been close to the edge of the bed so he had to catch himself before he fell off. The abruptness of it all shook away the grogginess and he sighed. He sat on the bed, letting his feet meet the floor… only to find not the wooden boards of his bedroom, but something plump and fleshy and weird. He looked down in curiosity and yelped when he found another human being splayed on the futon. This particular human being had dark skin, dark blue hair and was too handsome to be legal, especially in those criminally tight pajama shorts.

He had momentarily forgotten that Aomine had stayed over. He was hogging the covers, his body curled into himself. Kise briefly wondered if he had felt cold during the night. His breathing was slightly uneven and he was snoring loudly. A thin line of drool leaked from his mouth and onto the pillow, where a small wet spot had appeared. Gross. Aomine looked so ugly in his sleep. And still Kise couldn't take his eyes off his unsightly figure. Before he knew it he was crouched on the floor next to the sleeping ace, entranced by his slightly wrinkled brow and the way his chest rose and fell with his breathing.

One of his hands moved unconsciously to graze the exposed cheek, the touch leaving tingles on his fingertips. He felt oddly tempted to kiss his disgustingly drooling mouth, but he didn't feel right about doing it when Aomine had come to visit as a friend after probably getting heartbroken.

Suddenly, Aomine started to stir and his eyes fluttered open. He looked up and met Kise's golden orbs, sighed and fell back asleep right away, but this time the frown had disappeared from his face and he scooted closer to where Kise was crouching, as if he were searching for his warmth.

Ryouta blushed and grunted.

"Aominecchi, this is totally not fair." He muttered and he leaned down to press a soft kiss to his cheek before exiting the room, not caring about Aomine's sleepy whining from the loss of warmth.

* * *

"So, uh… this was pretty fun, huh?" Aomine said cursing his own awkwardness and he scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah!" Kise beamed at him as they walked towards the door. "We should do it again sometime." Kise flashed his toothpaste-commercial grin at him, which he found awfully infectious.

"Yeah, we should. Sorry for imposing."

"Nah, no worries, we had fun, right? Maybe next time _I'll_ crash at your place." He winked playfully and for some reason, Aomine thought of the last time Kise had been at his place (naked and hot and panting his name) and he blushed.

"Uh so... uh, yeah… let's do that one day."

This was fine, he told himself as he crossed the threshold and waved at Kise before turning his back to leave, they had made it through the night as friends who played videogames, teased each other, ate trash food and watched stupid movies on TV. This was fine and he could keep doing this, meeting up with Kise to do stupid and fun stuff without being awkward. And then maybe, just maybe, if they met up and felt like it, they could release some sexual frustrations and it wouldn't ruin anything, things would go on like normal, because fucking your friend didn't have to be a big deal at all.

Yes, this was definitely fine.

 **To be continued**

This is supposed to be a light-hearted chapter and yet it has so much fucking pining, I'm the worst. Aomine's path to coming to terms with his bisexuality is so harsh. I kinda like him feeling guilty for thinking Kise's mom is hot and not knowing if he's just being mature or if it just feels wrong after taking Kise's dick in the ass (hint hint: it's the second one. You are not mature Aho, you're not fooling anyone)

I diverged a little from canon, I know in the manga, the MiraGen get together for Kuroko's birthday and take a group photo and stuff, but why follow canon if I can make Aomine suffer?

Not much to say about this one, just hope you friends enjoyed it. Thanks a lot for all your comments, please keep letting me know what you think!


	4. Cashing in on Benefits

Chapter 3

Aomine was lazying around in bed with no intention of getting up at all when his phone buzzed and Kise's name started blinking on the screen.

"What's up?" he said as soon as he picked up.

" _Aominecchi! I'm in Tokyo for a photoshoot, let's go get something to eat after I'm done!"_ Kise's voice chirped on the other end of the line. Aomine found himself infected with his friend's cheerfulness, which seemed to happen a lot lately.

"I haven't got much money, is Maji Burger okay for Mr. Model?"

Kise huffed and Aomine chuckled imagining his pouty face. " _Yeah, that's fine, I'm taking a break from modeling anyway, I can do a little trash food._ "

Aomine was a little surprised to hear about Kise quitting modeling, but he made no comment about it. "Cool. Ah, I borrowed the new Godzilla film, we could watch it at my place afterwards."

" _Cool, I've been wanting to watch it! I'll call you when the shoot is over! Bye!_ "

The line clicked dead and Aomine allowed his lips to pull upward into a small smile. He got up and went straight to rummage through his closet, feeling strangely excited.

* * *

For a Saturday afternoon, the streets were relatively quiet and empty. Maybe the February chill was still keeping people at their homes. Aomine dug his hands into his pockets and let out a soft huff, watching his own breath cloud as it left his mouth. He hated the cold. He was itching to get over to Maji Burger and sink into whichever table was closest to the heater. Kise had called fifteen minutes ago to say he'd get there in twenty, so Aomine thought he would get a little ahead to get a table just in case the place was packed.

Turns out Maji Burger was as deserted as the rest of Tokyo. Nevertheless, Aomine decided to get inside and claim a table, mostly driven by his desire to flee from the cold. As he rushed inside, sighing happily when the warmth hit his face, he stumbled into someone.

"Oh, Aomine-kun."

Aomine looked down to find a pair of icy blue eyes staring up at him, unfazed.

"Sheesh, Tetsu, stop just showing up out of nowhere." He complained. It was kind of amazing that Kuroko could still sneak up on him after all these years.

"I've been here the whole time, it was Aomine-kun who ran into me."

If Aomine had a coin for every time he'd heard Tetsu say that, he'd have about a million coins by now.

"Oi, Kuroko! Our orders are re- Oh, Aomine, what's up?"

Aomine cringed. He looked around the restaurant to see if the rest of Seirin was there, but found nothing. It was just his luck to run into Kuroko and Kagami alone (and very much likely in a date of sorts). His eyes went back to the light and shadow duo and the way they seemed to naturally lean into each other (they probably didn't even realize they were doing it), which made his chest tighten painfully.

"Hey, are you meeting someone? You can sit with us if you want." Kagami offered, pointing to a table close to the window, where a gigantic pile of hamburgers could be seen.

Aomine cringed again. Did Kagami seriously invite him to be the third wheel in their date? The worst part of it all was that he was so stupid he probably didn't even realize how terrible the idea was. Aomine wanted to punch him.

"Nah, I was about to leave anyway…" he immediately wished he was smarter so he wouldn't say such obvious and stupid lies. He looked down to meet Tetsu's eyes and of course he was being judged by them 'you just walked in two minutes ago' they seemed to be saying, but his short friend didn't say a word.

"Oh, alright, no problem. Hey, let's meet some other day to play one-on-one, I haven't played in a while and I might get rusty." Kagami grinned, unconsciously stretching his limbs as if he were preparing to play right now.

"Huuh? Don't you dare waste my time, if you're getting rusty you won't even be a challenge."

"Say that again? I could stop training for a year and still beat your ass, _Ahomine_."

"Wanna' test your theory, _Bakagami_?"

Aomine suddenly felt the air being knocked out of his stomach and he looked up to see Kagami was wincing in pain too. His eyes shot down again to find Tetsu's tiny hand jabbing at his abdomen.

"What the fuck, Tetsu?"

Kuroko looked up at both of them, his face inexpressive, but his eyes showed a malicious, irritated sparkle. "You two were being unsurprisingly stupid." He said simply. "Come on, Kagami-kun the food will get cold. Aomine-kun must be busy too." He added, tugging at Kagami's wrist in the direction of their table. "Have a safe trip, Aomine-kun."

"Yeah, see ya." Daiki replied with a light wave before exiting the restaurant as fast as he could. He flipped open his cellphone and dialed Kise's number as he walked away in the direction of the station.

" _I'm sorry, Aominecchi, I'll be there in a minute I had to run away from some fangirls_." Kise squealed breathlessly from the other side of the line.

"Uhm, actually…" he needed to come up with a decent lie this time, because he sure as fuck didn't want to go back to that restaurant. "M-my folks are out for the weekend and they left me money for food. I'm kind of sick of Maji Burger, maybe we could order pizza or something? It's freezing outside and I don't really wanna' go out to be honest."

He pleaded to all gods above that Kise would fall for it and that the noise from the subway arriving on the platform wouldn't reach the other end of the line. He'd heard the trick for a good lie was lacing it with a little bit of truth, and it was true that his parents had left some money for food (he just wanted to spend it on something else, but that plan was officially scrapped now).

" _Sure, okay. So… meet you at your place_?"

He sighed in relief. "Yeah, sorry for the last minute change."

"It's alright. I think I can be there in fifteen."

Kise shut his phone away and stared at it for a moment, still confused. If Aominecchi was at home, why had he heard the voice of the subway lady announcing the arrival of a train? He shrugged the thought away, why would Aomine lie about something so silly? Besides, it was true that his friend was very (cutely) sensitive about cold weather and that today was particularly chilly. He sighed, a little annoyed. He was literally three steps away from Maji Burger and now he'd have to walk back to the station. Why hadn't Aominecchi decided to stay home _before_ Kise arrived at their meeting place?

His eyes caught a strikingly familiar icy blue color in the peripheral and he glanced to his right, only to find himself standing right outside Maji Burger, where Kuroko and Kagami were having lunch together right beside the window. They didn't seem to notice Kise, and Kagami was presently blushing beet red and flailing his arms, while the tiniest of smirks was pulling at Kuroko's lips.

A mirthless chuckle escaped his lips. Well, that certainly explained the last minute change of plans. Of course this all had to be about Kuroko _again_. He'd hoped that, if he was the one to choose their meeting date, maybe they could have fun together without having to agonize about being the second fiddler for Aomine's unrequited feelings. But alas, even when everything was going according to plan, Aomine had to find a way to get his heart broken by Kuroko all over again. This wasn't even funny.

Inside the restaurant, Kuroko was laughing lightly, and he looked very beautiful like that. Kise hadn't seen his friend laugh very often, but he was very cute when he did, so much that Kise wondered why he didn't fall for Kuroko too. Probably because Kuroko hadn't thrown a basketball at his head.

It felt awful to be mad at Kuroko for having found someone to love, and yet here he was, doing it again, and it was all Aomine's fault. He shook his head and turned away from the silly couple inside the restaurant. Since accepting to become Aomine's 'friend with benefits' he'd known all along that it involved having to deal with Aominecchi constantly pining for Kurokocchi, that nothing genuinely good would ever come out of it. He'd gotten complacent last time and this was just the world reminding him where things stood. This didn't change anything, he'd still have a good time with his friend and maybe this time he'd get to exploit a little bit of benefits, he told himself as he walked down the stairs and inside the station.

The voice in the back of his head that screamed _CONSOLATION PRIZE_ decided it was a good time to break its silence.

* * *

Aomine had been home for exactly seven minutes when the doorbell rang. A chill went up his spine when he imagined what would've happened if he'd been any little bit later to come back; Kise would've found an empty house and his lie would be out.

He didn't rush to open the door, he didn't want to appear desperate or needy even if he kind of was.

"What's up?" he greeted casually as his eyes found the strike of vibrant golden hair. Kise was wearing a heavy black jacket, completely unzipped. Beneath it he carried a black-and-white squared shirt with a high turn-up collar and a white t-shirt. His pants were dark gray and hugged his slim legs like a second skin. All of Kise's pants seemed to have that mysterious property. Kise had always had that sort of gift to dress himself that made Aomine feel self-conscious about his barely-not-pajamas outfit.

"Sorry for the intrusion." His blond friend called customarily. He kicked off his shoes and took two confident steps forward, effectively breaking into Aomine's personal space. "I hope you don't mind if I cash in some of my benefits, to make up for making me change course." He whispered in a thick voice before crashing their lips together.

It took Aomine aback, but after a few moments he was able to collect himself and kiss back. A part of him was sure there was something wrong about this, but the kiss was so good and making him so warm he couldn't really bring himself to care. His hands fell to hold Kise's hips and pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. Kise's tongue swept over his lips teasingly and Aomine found his own tongue sneaking out to meet it and suck it in, allowing the blond to explore his mouth. Heat was rushing up his head and down to his loins, he'd never imagined Kise could make him weak in the knees like this just with his mouth and tongue and it was a bit scary, but mostly just amazing. He felt breathless and light-headed, and all these clothes were starting to feel very cumbersome when Kise pulled away.

"Well, have you ordered that pizza yet? I'm starving." He said, a light flush on his cheeks, his lips wet and swollen, drawn upwards in a playful smile. And Aomine hated himself because a guy shouldn't be so damn attractive.

"Uh… no, not yet. I-I thought I'd ask you what you wanted."

Kise smiled to himself, pleased that Aominecchi hadn't noticed how hard his heart was beating.

* * *

"Wo-woah WOAH!" Aomine squirmed excitedly, pointing at the screen like a little kid. "That was so fucking _cool_ , man!"

Kise jumped a little in his seat and nodded, mirroring his friend's excitement. That had been insanely cool indeed. That Aomine looked so dashingly adorable when he was so thrilled was just the cherry on top.

The pizza box lay empty and cold on the coffee table. They were sitting side by side on the couch, their thighs just barely touching, a blanket draped over both of their shoulders –Kise had somehow talked Aominecchi into believing human body warmth would help protect him from the cold.

"Oi, what'cha staring at?"

Kise blushed upon realizing he'd been caught, but then smiled. "Aominecchi's just really cute." He teased, pecking his friend's cheek and enjoying the dark flush that took over those tan cheeks.

"Th-that was a pretty great movie…" Aomine said, clearly avoiding the issue.

Kise took the hint. He was already pushing his luck with the whole 'benefits' thing. "It was. Got something else we can watch?"

Aomine shuffled away from the coach, and Kise missed his warmth immediately (and judging from the way he shivered, Aomine missed it too). He approached the shelves next to the TV and started rummaging through the DVDs.

"Not much we haven't seen. I've got a lot of chick flicks, my folks like to watch'em together when they get in a corny mood."

Kise shrugged. "Whichever's fine."

Aomine picked a case at random, frowned a little, but eventually put the disk on the DVD player. As the credits started rolling on the screen, a hint of recognition crossed over Kise's features.

"Oh, I think I remember this one! Kyo-nee watched it with her husband before they started dating, she said it made her cry." He explained cheerily.

"You're not gonna' start crying and get all gross on me, are you?"

Kise laughed. "Of course not! I said Kyo-nee cried with it. Aren't _you_ gonna' cry, Aominecchi? You've always been a softy after all." He teased, not paying much attention to the screen.

"Shut up, dumbass."

* * *

"Aomidesshiiiii I need a deeshoo." Kise sniffled pathetically, tears and snot streaming down his face. Aomine never thought he'd see Kise looking less than gorgeous, and yet, here they were, with the blond model looking sad, puffy-eyed, his pretty face smeared in tears and snot, and overall pretty gross.

"I thought you weren't gonna' cry?" he asked, a light chuckle at the end. It was nice being the one doing the teasing for a change. He passed a box of tissues to his crying friend, who snatched it instantly.

"B-b-buuuuut...!" he blew his nose hard but didn't make any genuine effort to stop crying. "D-d-de man she w-w-woves is deeeeed…" a high-pitched wail followed the statement at the same time that the woman on screen started crying. "How can you dot cryyyyy, Aomidesshi is heardless…"

Daiki rolled his eyes and glanced at Kise's ugly crying face, feeling awfully grated by it. He pulled a tissue out of the box and roughly wiped the tears away from the golden eyes. Kise winced and blushed.

"Stop crying, idiot, you look gross."

Kise scowled and blew his nose once again. "Aominecchi is so mean." He protested, cleaning his cheeks with his sleeves.

Small droplets had latched to Kise's long eyelashes, making them sparkle under the faint glow of the television. Aomine wiped the last stranded tear from the blond's face with his bare hand, and allowed his thumb to linger there. The skin felt a little sticky, but it was soft and smooth. Without much thinking, he leaned in a pressed his lips against his friend's, but drew away too fast to really get anything done. Kise blinked at him, confusion evident in his golden eyes.

"I, uh… I can cash in on my benefits too, right?" he scratched the back of his head, feeling his face heat up.

Kise cocked his head. "Sure, anytime you like. That was the deal."

He gulped. Goosebumps rose on his skin. He remembered the way Kuroko and Kagami's bodies seemed to gravitate into each other. A chill ran up his spine.

"And… just how many benefits… could I get tonight?"

Kise was briefly startled by the question, but he quickly morphed his expression to show a sly smile, his eyes slanting like a cat's, suddenly switching his position and crawling towards Aomine, his hips slightly swaying with each move. Before Aomine could grasp control of the situation, he was already being pinned down to the floor, the blond's knee nudging his thighs to spread them apart.

"I don't knoooow, Aominecchi…" he cooed, his hot breath hitting tan skin. "Which kind of benefits _do_ you want from me tonight?"

Aomine's body temperature started to spike really fast. His heart was pumping really loudly and he couldn't take his eyes away from the predatory golden pair. He chewed on his bottom lip, he wasn't going to let Kise do whatever he wanted this time. He grabbed Kise's collar and pulled him down for a forceful kiss that was more of a painful clash of teeth.

"All of them." He husked out and felt satisfied with the blush that spread over Kise's pale cheeks, followed by a sly smile.

"All of them it is."

Kise sank for another hungry kiss, his tongue making its way inside Aomine's mouth immediately, enjoying its warmth and wetness. He found Aomine's tongue and licked it, tangled with it, sucked it playfully. The taller boy moaned into the kiss, making his tongue vibrate and Kise relished in the shock it sent down his body.

One of his pale hands started sneaking underneath Aomine's t-shirt, kneading the toned muscles (and he wanted to lick them, and bite them and leave his mark all over them, but there was no need to rush right now). His other hand joined in briefly after, and both started tracing the lines, pinching the dark flesh, scraping their nails lightly over the skin, drawing out soft gasps from Aominecchi's mouth.

He broke the kiss and looked down to admire his work. Only a little kissing and a little touching and Aomine was already flushed, sweating and panting beneath him, and there was a small tent on his crotch. Kise licked his lips. One of his hands continued exploring upwards, finding a brown nipple and rubbing it between two fingers until it perked, then repeating the action with its twin. His other hand went downwards and teased the edge of Aomine's jeans, a finger sneaking in to find thick black pubic hair and twirling it teasingly. Aomine tried to muffle a moan with one hand, but it didn't go unnoticed by Kise, who smirked before leaning forward to suck on the other boy's neck. He rememberd Kuroko and Kagami in Maji Burger and Aomine's strained voice on the phone, and he sank his teeth on the flesh angrily, not caring if he left a mark. If Aomine would never love him, at least he'd never let him forget his touch.

His hand stopped playing with the pubic hair and moved to unbuckle Aomine's belt, his knee successfully managing to spread his thighs apart. He made quick work of the belt and button and zipper, and once that was done, he cupped the bulge that formed on the dark boxers.

"Look at you, you're already like this and I have barely even touched you." He teased, and squeezed the clothed tent to emphasize. Aomine groaned and unconsciously arched into the touch.

"Y-you're one to talk…" he drawled, a little smirk on his face, as his hand found Kise's bulge and returned the squeeze. Ryouta winced and moaned, bucking his hips forward. He hadn't even noticed he was so hard already, but he shouldn't really be surprised. Aomine did have a powerful effect on him.

"Shall we cut to the chase, then?" he breathed, tugging Aomine's pants and boxers down in one smooth swoop and letting them pool at his ankles. With his hands, he spread the dark legs further apart and licked his lips, glancing at his prize.

Aomine shivered and that sent a little wave of rationality up to his brain.

"Hey, uhm…" he started, suddenly self-conscious. "Last time I didn't really ask but… a-are you okay…? With this position, I mean?" he'd always sort of imagined Aomine to be a giver rather than a receiver, but last time he hadn't been able to contain himself. And at this point he wasn't really sure whether he wanted to pound into Aomine or be pounded into. He kind of wanted both.

"Oh, uhm… I-I don't mind… you seem to know what you're doing so…A-and we're already in th-this kind of mood anyway…"

"Oh! O-okay…! We-we can try other positions next time…"

 _Next time_. The words rang on his heart.

"Yeah… yeah, sounds, uh… good. Yeah."

Time in the room seemed to freeze as they stared into each other's eyes, their previous desperate hunger slowly dissipating into awkwardness. And then time unfroze and melted and suddenly everything was hot and burning when a pair of hands started fumbling with Kise's pants and pulling them down, the warm air of the room reaching his half-hard erection and making the sensitive skin tingle.

"A-aominecchi?"

Aomine quirked an eyebrow. He seemed to hesitate for a moment before encircling the length in his hand and pumping one, two, three times. He scrunched his eyebrows in concentration and watched as the sex in his hand grew and hardened, and Kise whimpered at the roughness and inexperience of the touch. Last time, Aominecchi hadn't really done anything other than lay there and let Kise do whatever he pleased, and his expression had been a mixture of shame and mortification all the way through. This time he looked determined, a little embarrassed, a little nervous, but clearly unwilling to take a step back. There was something about that expression that made Kise moan breathlessly. Aomine's hand was now slick with pre-cum, Kise's pale hips buckling for more friction.

"Aominecchi…" Kise moaned again, his knees growing weak. It felt good, so good, to be touched by the man he loved, to stare into those wild dark eyes as pleasure shot up his body and clouded his mind. He'd dreamed of this so many times he'd long lost count. "Aominecchi… s-s-stop, I'm gonna—"

"Then get on to it already, you've been staring for _ages_." Aomine sneered, craning his neck upwards to lick Kise's lips at the same time that he squeezed his cock a little too harshly.

A shiver went up his spine and he nodded. There was something about Aomine _ordering_ him to fuck him already that made his insides turn to goo. He chewed on his lip lightly, reigning in the temptation of just going in dry because he could barely hold back anymore, but he knew neither of them would enjoy it if he did.

"D'you have… lube or something?"

Aomine looked up at him, confusion clear in his oh-so-handsome face.

"Don't think so. Can't you just use spit?"

Kise's eyes widened. "Huh? Nononono, that's not gonna cut it at all, nope, do you want it to hurt or what? That's just for real pros and shit! Have you been reading BL manga or something?"

Aomine didn't reply and looked away, a faint blush taking over his cheeks. Kise's eyes widened further. He wanted to kiss this dumb boy senseless, because how could he be so adorably dumb?

"W-well, what d-did you use last time?"

"I don't remember."

Aomine sighed, frustrated. "Getting laid shouldn't be this complicated." He whined.

Kise hummed pensively and scratched his chin. "I… I've got some hand lotion but I don't know if it would break the condom…"

"I don't have any condoms."

Kise's eyes widened _again_. "What do you mean 'you don't have any condoms'? We were in the same class, I saw you passing Sex Ed!"

The taller boy shrugged. "Well _do you_ have any condoms?"

Kise's face heated up and he looked away, embarrassed by the terribly on-point accusation. "I didn't think I'd need them", he muttered. Hooking up with Aominecchi had been an afterthought, he had only thought about it when he was already mid-shoot, and by the time he was heading towards Aominecchi's place he was partly too downtrodden after seeing Kurokocchi, and partly too eager to think that having the house for themselves could lead to _other stuff_.

"Whatever, you've got nothing going on your dick, do you?"

Kise blushed at the straightforward question and recoiled into himself, his self-consciousness growing. "N-n-no, I've checked myself." It was true that he was not a virgin –like Aominecchi said, he knew what he was doing- and he'd always been very strict about safe sex, and he'd had himself tested not that long ago. But still _, he was very strict about safe sex_ so maybe they should just call this off and settle for jerking each other off or something.

He was about to suggest they do exactly that when Aominecchi bucked his hips upwards, roughly rubbing their lengths against each other. "Alright, so get on with it. I was a virgin before you, so I've got nothing weird going on either."

Kise's dick deflated so quickly it wasn't even funny. His jaw dropped to the floor, his heart skipped a beat and he knew he shouldn't be feeling this damn happy over something like this, but he couldn't help it. And Aominecchi shouldn't be able to say something like that with such a straight face. His heart skipped another beat and he wanted to giggle and roll on the floor in a giddy fit of laughter because _I was Aominecchi's first._

But instead he collected himself and smiled his million-watt smile at the boy beneath him. "Aominecchi, I'm gonna' suck you off."

"Su…HUH? You're gonna do WHAT?!"

His grin grew almost painfully wide and he pressed a quick peck to the corner of Aomine's lips.

"Suck you off." He chirped. "Unless you don't want me to." He backtracked, suddenly remembering Aominecchi was almost a virgin (A virgin. Kise had _taken_ _Aominecchi's virginity_ ) and this may be too much for him.

Aomine flushed a dark shade of red and looked away. "N-n-no it's f-f-fine if you w-w-want to…"

Kise couldn't possibly grin any wider or he'd break his money-making face. Somehow, that didn't seem all that important right now.

"Promise I'll make you feel reeeaaal good."

Aomine's breath got caught in his throat as he watched Kise mouthing his way down his body, leaving a trail of kisses and bites over his chest and stopping to nuzzle the tuft of dark hair beneath his belly button. He looked away, embarrassed beyond himself and tingling with anticipation. He felt Kise's fingers circling around the base of his cock and felt his hot breath on the tip. This was really happening.

"Aominecchi, look at me." His blond friend mewled teasingly, and Aomine's eyes shifted just in time to lock with a golden pair before Kise's moist lips (how many times had they kissed tonight? He'd lost count such a long time ago) wrapped around the head of his cock and took him in to the hilt in one smooth motion.

There were not enough curses in his vocabulary to appropriately react to that sight and that feeling. He covered his mouth to muffle whatever was coming out of his mouth –he didn't know what it was, but it was certain to be unmanly and embarrassing- and tried to look away, but Kise's eyes had him completely hypnotized. It felt so hot, so tight and so wet and he wanted to tell Kise to stop because he was losing his mind too much, too fast, but the words wouldn't come out. He felt Kise's tongue twirling around his manhood and he bobbed his head one, two times over his length. He went a bit too far on the last one and he gagged a little, his throat clenching around the head of Aomine's cock.

"FU—"

Kise's eyes went wide and he pulled back a little when a stream of thick cum flooded his mouth. After the initial shock passed, though, he regained his position and sucked Aomine through his orgasm, humming around the head and lapping at the slit. Once he'd swallowed the last drop of cum, the allowed the flaccid length to slip out of his mouth with a soft pop.

Not that Aomine was aware of any of that, because all he could see or think or feel, or _be_ was this floaty white sensation that he was pretty sure was not much different from death. He was brought back to consciousness by a distant, musical sound that for some reason made him indescribably annoyed.

He wasn't sure of how long he'd been out of it, but when the world started to make sense again and the fog from his eyes cleared a little, the first thing he saw was this golden thing with this annoying giant grin.

"Thanks for the meal." A snickering voice said teasingly.

Now _that_ brought him back to his senses.

Kise's face was inhumanly close. He was grinning and his eyes were sparkling. There was the tiniest white stain on the corner of his lips.

"That's what I call 'fast food'."

If there was one time in his life in which Aomine thought he might die from embarrassment, this was definitely it. He could feel his lips opening and closing trying to form words that did not exist in his brain. His face heated up so much he thought his skin might melt.

"So? Did it feel good?" his annoying friend chirped.

He couldn't even look Kise in the eye. 'Good' was a fucking understatement if there had ever been one, but he couldn't bring himself to admit it when he'd come so embarrassingly fast. His reputation as a man was as good as dead now.

"Awww, don't be embarrassed, these things happen. Especially when you're a _virgin_." And his lips, that Aomine had just seen going down on his cock moments ago, curled around that word with an awfully satisfied smirk.

"S-shut up!" he grunted, smacking those annoyingly perfect blond locks out of place. Kise grabbed his wrist and leaned forward, stealing a deep kiss. Aomine could taste the lingering bitterness in Kise's tongue and when he actually processed _what_ that meant, his stomach churned. He pushed the blond away. "You just swallowed _that_ , don't put your mouth so close to mine. It's gross!"

Kise giggled. "I just gave you a super special service and this is how you repay me? That's mean, Aominecchi." He whined, a fake look of hurt on his face.

Even if he was faking it, Aomine knew he had a point. It was just then that he noticed the slight brush of Kise's half-hard cock against his inner thigh. He felt his face heating up again, and he looked away, willing the words out of his throat. "I can repay you… in other ways."

"Eh?"

He shoved the shorter male away and pushed him to a sitting position, with his back resting against the armrest. Still unable to make actual eye-contact, he wasted no time making his way down the lean body beneath him. He gulped when he found himself facing the long member.

 _I've got this_. He told himself, hoping to ease his nervousness. _If it fit in my ass, I can sure as hell fit it in my mouth._

"A-Aominecchi…?" Kise sounded genuinely flustered for a change and that was great. It gave him the confidence he needed, and he tentatively flicked his tongue over the head, enjoying the shudder it gave him. "N-n-noooo waaaaait" the blond wailed, flailing. "Y-y-you don't have to do that, Aominecch—" he cut him off running his tongue from the base to the tip. "Holy s—"

This was undoubtedly nice. Well, the taste of dick wasn't particularly pleasant, but he was willing to get over that for the sake of having Kise being the one flushed, embarrassed and unable to speak or think properly. Felt like a well-deserved payback.

After a few more licks, Kise's cock was finally hard. Aomine took a moment to look at it, and he swallowed hard. It was… bigger than expected. Not that he'd never seen Kise's dong in the showers or anything, but it was his first close-up with its full-length. He was now kind of glad that they'd forgone the idea of fucking tonight. It may have fit in his ass last time, but now that he knew how long it was, the idea of having it all inside him made him a little queasy.

He glanced up and noticed Kise wasn't even looking at him. He frowned. "Oi, I'm giving you a… what did you call it?... A special service. Least you can do is enjoy the show." Saying those kind of things made him awfully self-conscious, mostly because he wasn't sure he wanted Kise to watch him, but at the same time he wanted to look at him and see how his expression morphed in pleasure and embarrassment – _especially_ embarrassment-.

Kise shivered and eventually looked down. Aomine's cock twitched. His eyes were glazed and half-lidded, his face completely flushed pink. His lips, still wet and swollen, were slightly parted, and he seemed to be having difficulty breathing. "A-a-aominecchiii…" he whined, his voice quivering at the end.

Aomine grinned deviously, extremely pleased with his absolute success in switching their positions. With his confidence boosted, he parted his lips and wrapped them around the head of Kise's cock. Before he could get used to the size or even try anything else, Kise screamed and convulsed under him and hot shots of a thick liquid filled his mouth. His eyes widened and he pulled back, coughing. The taste was foul, he spat what he could. How had Kise even managed to swallow that? It was gross.

He glanced at the blond and caught him still leaking cum from the tip, his body arching upward and a long moan coming out from his mouth. In a moment of boldness (if anything could be considered bolder than taking someone's dick in your mouth), he wrapped his fingers around Kise's erection and pumped a few times, aiding him through his orgasm and getting his fingers sticky with cum. When he felt it deflate in his hand and Kise's eyes started regaining their focus, he smirked in satisfaction.

"You were saying something about 'fast food'?"

* * *

Aominecchi didn't understand. He couldn't possibly understand how it felt to watch the one you love staring at you like a panther hunting its prey. He could in no way understand what it was to see the person you love taking your cock into their mouth, cheeks painted a soft pink, fingers shaking with nervousness and yet , with all that determination and defiance in those dark eyes, and just that tiny bit of tease in the edges. How could he know what it was, after dreaming about it for so long, to feel that warmth and that indescribable pleasure, and for it to be so much more amazing than you ever dreamed?

"Aominecchi, you dummy." He whined, tears prickling the corners of his eyes.

The weight on the couch shifted and Aomine rose so their faces were at the same level, a smile growing on his lips.

"Stop crying, you loved that. Now we're even."

And Aominecchi would never understand because he didn't love Kise. He didn't lose his breath when they touched. His heart didn't skip a beat when they kissed. And he never would.

* * *

Suddenly, Kise's pouty face changed as if a switch had been clicked inside him. His expression went blank and he pushed a very confused Aomine off him.

"Oi, what the fuck?" Daiki complained, and his eyes widened when he saw Kise fixing his pants and searching around for his things. A chilly wind blew past the window he'd forgotten to close and made him shudder. He'd been so close to Kise's warm body for so long now that he'd completely forgotten about the cold.

"It's getting late, I should go back or I'll miss the last train."

He frowned. As if he would let him pull this crap on him again.

He got up and grabbed Kise's wrist firmly.

"Stay."

Kise looked up at him with wide eyes and a little bit of confusion. He himself wasn't really sure of why he didn't want the blond to leave. He convinced himself that Kise was warm and warm was always good. Kise averted his gaze and chewed on his lip. Aomine tugged on his wrist and pulled him in for a quick, chaste kiss.

"Stay." He repeated, his voice a slightly strained breathe.

"Okay."

Aominecchi was so unfair, Kise thought as he was led to the bedroom in a sudden flurry of soft kisses, then pushed down to the bed, then pinned down to the mattress by Aominecchi's strong arms, and that mouth that was stealing the breath away from him.

And even though they barely even touched each other this time, little more than hands roaming over hot flesh and bodies arching into each other for friction, they still managed to find a second climax that somehow felt different than the last one, and Kise couldn't tell if it was a nice kind of different or a painful kind, and because not thinking about it was so much easier, he allowed himself to sink into sweet slumber, with the boy he loved but didn't love him tightly wrapped in his arms.

 **To be continued**

Sorry for the delay, if you follow me you'll notice I posted a crapton of one-shots for TakaMido Day, Kagakuro day and HinaKage day, so all of my other updates were pushed back one week. Also, this chapter's longer than the norm, so it took a litle longer to get it done.

I'm pretty certain you should be using condoms to give head too, but Kise decided today was as good a day as ever to throw that out of the window. Do not imitate this kind of reckless behavior, no matter if your partner is a virgin or whatever. This has been a PSA. (I really hate the fact that ITS exist because writing about safe sex is so annoying). I honestly love writing Aomine as a blushing virgin, that was the positive side about this whole experience, even though the sex scenes ended being kind of awkward, but that was kinda the point.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Kise has some radical mood swings, but that's just to show how troubled he is by their situation. So let me know what you think about it. And thanks a lot for reading


	5. Not the right time for Ballads

**Chapter 4**

"Is something going on with Kii-chan?"

Aomine looked up from his cellphone, in the middle of replying to one of Kise's annoying, emoji-loaded texts and met Satsuki's pink eyes.

"Where's that coming from?" he asked, a little bit on edge.

"You've been texting a lot lately." She observed.

He blinked, then glanced briefly at his phone, that had just buzzed with another message. He hadn't really thought about it until now, but she was right. He probably had more texts from Kise in the past two weeks than from his entire list of contacts on the last year.

"It's nothing. He just sends a lot of annoying shit."

She chewed on her lip. She seemed troubled, but Aomine couldn't quite place his finger on why.

"Just… just be nice to Kii-chan, okay?" she said, a clearly forced smile appearing on her lips before she turned to leave.

He nodded absentmindedly, a sort of dread prickling at the back of his mind before he looked back at the screen, now with three more messages.

 _Kise: Aominecchi, why aren't you replying?!_ ( ≧Д≦)

 _Kise: I know you've seen it!_ щ(ºДºщ)

 _Kise: Aominecchi, don't ignore me!_ ヽ(ｏ`皿′ｏ)ﾉ

He chuckled.

* * *

" _Aominecchi! They're doing another Pikachu invasion in Minato Mirai WE HAVE TO GOOOOO!"_

Aomine had to take the phone away from his ear or his eardrums would've been seriously compromised by Kise's excited squealing.

"Didn't know you were _that_ into Pikachu, honestly." He replied once the squealing had died down, although he could practically hear Kise hopping excitedly wherever he was standing.

" _How can anyone not be into Pikachu, it's so freaking cute! Let's go see it Aominecchi, pleeeeassssseeee!"_

Aomine could've objected that Kise didn't really need him to go see the Pikachus, but there was something about his pleading, excited tone that he found oddly endearing. Besides, he'd been the one to choose where to go in all their previous dates –if whatever they were doing could ever be classified as "dates", but he kind of felt like it did- so it wouldn't hurt to go with one of Kise's whims for a change.

"Fine, when is it?"

Kise squealed loudly again, and Aomine cringed when the high-pitched noise reached his ear.

" _This Sunday!"_ he exclaimed, excitedly.

Aomine smiled. A part of him wished he could see Kise's face now.

"Alright, I'll meet you at the station at 10."

" _Yay! I'll see you there!"_

* * *

Aomine had barely taken three steps out of the train station when a dash of gold took over his vision and before he knew it, he was being glomped by an overly excited Kise.

"Jesus, you need to control your sugar intake." He chided his blond friend, playfully pushing him away.

"But it's exciting! Look at all the Pikachus, they're so cute!" Kise squealed, pointing at a group of giant Pikachu costumes dancing while the crowd cheered.

Kise himself was a literally bright yellow ball of energy with his loose unzipped yellow hoodie that fell to his upper thigh, a clean V-neck white shirt that exposed just the smallest bit of collarbones and the dark red skinny jeans that hung from his hips and hugged his legs like a second skin. Aomine swallowed hard as he took in the sight.

"So, what do you want to do today?"

Kise beamed. "Lots of things!" and he grabbed Aomine's hand and pulled him as he skipped towards the dancing Pikachus. Aomine smiled, even as he struggled to keep up with Kise's pace, and thought that this wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

Aomine plopped down on the nearest bench he could find, exhausted.

"I think I'll be having nightmares of Pikachus for the rest of my life." He whined. If he closed his eyes, he could still see the dancing yellow mascots inside his eyelids.

"Awww, come on, Aominecchi, it was fun!"

Aomine chuckled. It _had_ been sort of fun, he had to admit, not really because of all the Pikachus and overly-stimulated children, but because Kise's excitement had turned out to be surprisingly infectious (or maybe spending time with Kise in and on itself was fun, even if that entailed watching dudes in giant Pokémon costumes dancing to terrible pop songs).

"Look, since I'm so nice I'm gonna' treat you to something. There are a ton of food stalls around. What d'you wanna'eat?" Kise added, a large grin plastered on his face.

"Okonomiyaki." he replied automatically, hearing his stomach rumble.

"With lots of mayo, right? I'll be right back." The blond hopped off the bench and walked towards some crowded food stalls, all of them sporting some sort of Pikachu-themed decoration.

Aomine followed him with his gaze, dark eyes unawaredly falling to the perfect roundness of Kise's buttocks, accentuated by his sinfully tight pants. He felt a sudden, horrible desire to grope them, or bite them, or plunge in between them and he had to physically stop that train of thought with a sharp shake of his head and slap the image out of his mind before his pants started getting tight.

It wasn't even worth fighting the fact that he felt so unabashedly attracted by Kise. The guy was already much more gorgeous than he had the right to be; add to that his amazing body –a perfect balance of a model's slim figure and an athlete's strong build- and his uncanny ability of wearing clothes that enhanced the best parts of his physique, and the end product became borderline irresistible. Ever since their last meeting and the tacit agreement of changing positions the next time they fucked, he'd been having countless wet dreams that involved pale skin writhing underneath him, a strained voice calling his name, golden eyes glazed over with lust, the feeling of sinking into the heat of that perfect body –and he'd masturbated to the thought much more often than he'd ever want to admit-. One could even say he had fallen in _lust_ with his blond friend, and it felt wrong to desire someone _so damned much_ when his heart ached for someone else.

He shook those thoughts out of his head too. He'd promised himself not to think about Tetsu, at least not when he was with Kise. He knew it didn't really change the situation, but it was the least he could do as a form of consideration towards Kise's feelings. A part of his brain had started to nag at him, telling him this whole 'friends with benefits' thing had been a terrible idea and a cruel thing to do when he was so aware of how Kise felt, demanding that he ended this before he hurt his friend further, but another part of him couldn't help but enjoy how this had turned out. Because going out and doing stuff as 'friends' was nice and fun, but sneaking the occasional kiss here and there, and touching each other, having sex, and waking up to feel the heat of another body embracing his, he _liked_ all that. And he knew it was selfish, but he wasn't ready to give up that warmth and comfort yet.

His thoughts were interrupted when the familiar ball of yellow energy jogged back into his field of vision carrying two plastic containers and plopped down on the bench next to him, handing him one of the containers. Aomine looked down to find the expected okonomiyaki topped with a strangely-shaped blob of mayonnaise. He quirked an eyebrow.

"What's up with the mayo?"

Kise was already chewing on his own food –he'd bought an order of spicy yakisoba- and he rushed to swallow the bite in his mouth to reply.

"It's a Pikachu of course. I drew it for you, you should be grateful." The blond grinned playfully before slurping on more noodles.

Aomine looked down at the mayonnaise blob. If he squinted and really put his imagination to it, he could almost make out the shape.

It was the ugliest Pikachu he had ever seen, and that made Kise's satisfied grin too unfairly cute.

* * *

If a few hours ago, Aomine had been certain to have a lifetime's worth of Pikachu nightmares, now that the festival was over he had no doubts that the yellow rat was permanently imprinted on his eyeballs.

"Thanks for coming with me, Aominecchi, I had a lot of fun." Kise was saying; his face had been stuck on a shit-eating grin for the last three hours.

The sun was starting to set in the horizon, but Aomine felt a sense of dread when he thought of parting. There was something strange… special about today, and he feared he would lose it once they went their separate ways. He looked down at their intertwined hands, not really sure of when they'd laced their fingers together, but it felt as if they had been like this forever.

"Hey, uhm… y'know it's still kinda early so… I mean if there's anything else you wanna' do…" he trailed off, his dark eyes finding something very interesting on the pavement so he wouldn't have to look at Kise's face.

The blond model stopped in his tracks and turned back to look at him, and Aomine was grateful for being able to stare at the pavement so intently because he was sure he was blushing beyond what his pride would deem acceptable.

Kise seemed to think about it for a moment and finally clasped both hands around Aomine's and tugged at him energetically.

"Let's go to Karaoke then!"

Aomine instantly regretted he ever asked.

* * *

After much struggling, reluctance and negotiation, Aomine had somehow allowed himself to be dragged to Kise's favorite Karaoke place. He wanted to slap himself for not foreseeing this would happen, karaoke was Kise's favorite thing to do, second only to basketball and talking about himself. During their second year at Teikou, he would invite everyone to karaoke with relative frequency. Satsuki would usually be the only one to go with him, although Murasakibara would humor him occasionally on the promise of snacks, and he'd heard that Akashi, Midorima and Kuroko had all somehow gotten dragged to it once and had apparently come out traumatized from the experience. He had somehow managed to avoid it back then, and now he'd fallen straight into the predator's lair.

Since it was only the two of them (what kind of karaoke party could work with just two people, Aomine didn't know), Kise paid for a small room, and practically skipped down the hallway that led to it, tugging on Aomine's sleeve to make sure he didn't run away.

"I've always wanted to come to Karaoke with Aominecchi!" he chirped gleefully as they entered the room, and Aomine had to sigh in defeat.

They sat relatively close to each other, and Kise jumped for the controller right away, browsing through the songs with an excited glint in his eyes.

"What do you want to sing?"

Aomine frowned. "Nothing."

Kise frowned back at him. "What's the point of coming to Karaoke if you don't sing? If I wanted to hear myself sing for two hours I'd do it in the shower."

"First, that's a ton of bull, you love listening to yourself, and second, I already told you I'm not really into this kind of thing."

Kise pursed his lips in an angry pout. "Gee, and here I was getting worried that Aominecchi was being too nice today and that this may not be the real Aominecchi, but I see my worries were unfounded."

"Oi, what's that even supposed to mean?"

Kise stuck out his tongue, the frown never leaving his face. "Aominecchi is so mean." He mumbled as he went back to browse through the song list.

Aomine sighed in defeat once again. He'd decided to humor Kise today, and it was only his own desire to spend a little more time with his friend that had landed him in this situation anyway, the least he could do was try not to spoil the good mood they'd been building all day.

"Alright, I'll sing something, but you have to go first and set the mood or whatever."

Kise beamed at him and exclaimed a high-pitched "Yay!" before grabbing the microphone and passing the controller and a tambourine over to Aomine, who took them begrudgingly. An upbeat tune started coming from the speakers and the screen changed to show a group of girls in school uniforms dancing to the beat. The melody was fairly familiar to Aomine, but he didn't listen to enough pop crap to accurately point out what it was. He glanced sideways at Kise, who was bobbing his head to the music and had closed his eyes in concentration.

"C'mon Aominecchi, have you never been to karaoke? What do you think that tambourine is for?" he asked, cracking one eye open to look at Aomine.

He groaned, but finally caved in and started twisting his wrist and hitting the tambourine with his other hand, just enough to make it ring, half-heartedly following the rhythm. After a never-ending introduction, lyrics finally popped up on the screen. Kise opened his eyes, that were sparkling with excitement, and started singing.

Aomine realized he had never heard Kise singing. Sure the guy used to hum shitty pop music in the locker room, but Aomine had never paid much attention to it. He'd imagined he was a terrible singer, since everyone who had ever come with him to karaoke had never wanted to talk about the experience. But that was absolutely not the case. Aomine may not be a qualified judge when it came to singing, but there was no doubt that Kise's voice was beautiful. Although the song would've been better fit for a high-pitched female voice, Kise made it work somehow. His voice was smooth, neither too high, nor too low, and it felt completely different to his regular speaking voice. He caught all the notes without wavering or going off-tune. Aomine briefly thought that, even if Kise wasn't as devastatingly handsome as he was, he could've still made it as an idol with that voice.

It also occurred to him that Kise looked particularly beautiful when singing. His eyes were sparkling and the smile on his lips was joyful and genuine. His body was relaxed and his face was literally glowing. He seemed to be completely in his element. In this precise moment, it was as if Kise belonged as perfectly in the karaoke booth as he did in the basketball court. His love and passion for this was evident, probably even someone who didn't know him as well as Aomine did could've noticed. Aomine found himself upping the tempo of the tambourine slightly, to better match the volume and beat of Kise's voice.

Aomine remained in a sort of daze for almost half a minute after the song was over. He hadn't been able to tear his eyes off Kise's singing face for the entire three minutes that the song lasted, and he had to really fight the urge to ask him to sing again.

"How was that, Aominecchi? Impressed by my karaoke skills already?" Kise asked with a cheeky grin.

"Y-yeah, actually. I didn't know you were this good."

Kise was apparently taken aback by Aomine's unfiltered sincerity. He clearly hadn't expected to receive a compliment. His golden eyes flickered slightly and he looked away to hide the deep red blush that had blossomed on his pale cheeks.

"J-j-jeez Aominecchi. You can't just say something like t-t-that upfront, it's not like you."

Aomine grinned. Although he was a bit embarrassed for allowing his true opinion to slip past his mouth, he figured it was worth it if it made Kise this flustered. It wasn't often that he got to see Kise lose his overconfident façade, and he wasn't going to lie and say it wasn't kind of cute.

"A-anyway, I've done my part and set the mood, now it's Aominecchi's turn." Kise said, passing him the microphone and snatching the tambourine away. "I'm gonna' teach you how to properly play the background too, you're terrible."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Aomine groaned, fumbling a little with the microphone and trying to quiet down the thrumming of his heart. He'd half-heartedly picked a rock song that he knew the lyrics to, but in truth he'd never actually tried singing out loud. He could sort of rasp some lines from his favorite songs, but the kind of music he liked was more about screaming than smooth singing. He had no sense of tune or voice control, he was no doubt going to fly way off-key at some point. Kise was so definitely going to laugh at him, and that thought mortified him more than he'd ever want to admit.

Loud drums and the sound of the bass were a stark contrast to the upbeat tune of Kise's song. The screen also changed to show footage of what seemed a high school romance movie, with a boy glancing longingly at a girl. Aomine frowned, that had nothing to do with the song he had chosen. Who picked the backgrounds for these things anyway? He tapped the floor with one foot, trying to distract his mind from Kise's bright grin and his overly-enthusiastic use of the tambourine.

He started singing when the lyrics appeared on screen. His voice came out rough, raspy even, closer to a long growl than any sort of melody. He cleared his throat and tried again, feeling his cheeks heating up in embarrassment. His second attempt was a little better, although he went terribly off-key from time to time and his voice quivered out of control, he managed to do something similar to singing. He couldn't really say he was enjoying the experience, though, too caught up on feeling self-conscious about Kise's inevitably upcoming mockery to really let go.

A sudden surge of panic coursed through him and he quickly glanced sideways. What if Kise decided to make a video of his terrible performance and share it with everyone? They would never let him live it down. The terrible decision of wanting to spend more time with Kise would be the end of his reputation. Even Sakurai would make fun of him. His life was officially over.

To his surprise, though, Kise wasn't making a video. Instead, his golden eyes were fixed on Aomine, sparkling happily as he shook the tambourine with enthusiasm. He was laughing too, but not a mocking kind of laughter, rather a genuinely joyous one. He seemed to be as exhilarated watching Aomine sing as he had been when he was singing. And maybe it was the background music, or the fact that he now knew how beautiful Kise's singing voice was, but his clear laughter sounded oddly melodious, almost as if it were made of pure music. It made Aomine's heart hum and his ears tingle pleasantly. Had Kise's laughter always been so nice to listen to? He kind of wanted to shut down the music and his own terrible singing to get an unfiltered version of the sound.

When his own song ended, he realized the kind of train of thought he'd been caught in, and felt horribly ashamed, although he wasn't sure why. His face felt like it was on fire, and he was grateful for the dim light in their booth, because it would make the red on his cheeks harder to notice. He shook his head as he gave the microphone back. This was likely just another facet of his bizarre lust for Kise. If he was so attracted by his body, by everything that comprised the physicality of Kise Ryouta, it stood to reason that he'd find his voice hot too. Especially when he'd heard Kise moan his name in the throes of passion with the same voice that could produce the most annoying squeals, but also the smoothest songs and the most melodious laughter.

Kise grinned at him brightly. "Aominecchi's a lot better than I expected! Still can't measure up to me, but it's a good start." He giggled, his pale cheeks lighting up in a faint pink.

Aomine rolled his eyes and groaned. "You won't hurt my feelings if you say it sucked, you know?"

Kise beamed, his smile even brighter than before, if that was possible. "I wasn't lying! It was fun!"

Aomine groaned again and raised his hands in defeat. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, your turn pretty boy."

Kise blushed sheepishly and scratched his cheek before choosing a new song. This time he picked a rock song from one of Aomine's favorite bands, and he even nailed the difficult rap portion without batting an eyelid. Aomine decided Kise looked hot holding a microphone. Today was a no-go for sex –they both had school tomorrow-, but maybe they could settle a date for their next encounter. Aomine really hoped so, because his eyes were being drawn more and more often to Kise's perfect buttocks, the smoothness of his skin, the sparkle on his eyes, the delicate curve of his lips, and he really wished he could be more ashamed of himself than he actually was.

The next song was also Kise's, it was another pop upbeat crap that Aomine had never heard before, but Kise seemed very hyped about it, and he even danced and did a little choreography during the chorus. It was equal parts cute and stupid. By the time his turn came again, he was quite in the mood to make a sorry spectacle of himself, especially if that meant he was going to hear Kise laughing again. Once again, his performance was terrible in every possible way, even worse than the previous one since he'd gone really off-key at some point and his voice had gone weird and ridiculous. Kise had laughed so hard Aomine had wanted to slap him or make a recording, he wasn't really sure, so he just shoved the microphone back to Kise's hands.

This time, the song was a ballad. It was somewhat familiar, he remembered listening to it a lot during Teikou. It was apparently part of some popular TV show and it was playing in every radio station back then. He put the tambourine aside, figuring he wouldn't be needing it for this song. It was originally sung by a female, and the screen with the lyrics showed a girl crying under the rain, but somehow, Kise's voice seemed to fit it perfectly too. Because the music was slow, Aomine could actually focus on the lyrics. The singer was speaking to the person they loved, but who didn't love them back; a person who was kind and thoughtful, someone the singer could rely on. Yet, their kindness only made the singer sadder about their unrequited feelings, and they had to constantly put up a mask so their loved one wouldn't know how much they were hurting. It was a very sad song, in which the singer resigned themselves to never have their feelings reciprocated. It made Aomine's chest clench painfully.

Aomine's gaze was fixed on Kise, who seemed to be pouring his heart into the song. His voice wavered slightly and his eyes seemed watery. Kise's rendition of this song made him lose his breath and he started to notice his eyes growing blurry. When the song reached its climax, Kise closed his eyes and clutched his chest, as if he could feel physical pain, as if the feelings expressed in the song where his own. Aomine paused at that thought. Could he possibly…? But why would he…?

Before he could gather his thoughts, the song was over. Kise put the microphone down and bit on his lower lip, his eyes unmistakably sparkling with tears that he seemed to be fighting back with all his might.

"I… I'm going to the bathroom, choose your next song in the meantime." He said in a rush before bolting out the door.

Aomine had to debate himself over whether to follow him or not, but decided against it. It really wasn't his place, and he thought it would be hypocritical to try to comfort him when it was his inability to reciprocate Kise's feelings that had caused this. For a moment, he wished he could've fallen in love with Kise back in Teikou. Kise loved him, had loved him for all this time. They were also such a great match. Kise was one of the few who could force him to play with his full strength, who would put up a challenge and make him sweat on the court. He was also extremely pretty, had a very hot body and knew exactly how to use it. And they got along so well, they always had fun when they were together. Why had he fallen in love with Tetsu whose heart was already someone else's? Why couldn't he love Kise so both of them could be happy?

* * *

Kise slammed his head on one of the bathroom stool's doors, hating himself as tears poured freely down his cheeks. How stupid. Why had he thought of that song? It was the song that reminded him of Aomine and his hopeless one-sided love. Ever since he'd first heard it –when his sisters were watching the drama where it was featured- he'd thought how much it reminded him of his tight friendship with Aomine, and how it would never become anything more than that.

He hated himself for choosing that song. They'd had such a nice, relaxed mood going throughout the day and he just _had_ to ruin it with his heartbreak. He'd thought he'd be okay. He really loved that song and it had never made him cry before (maybe a couple of times, long before he had resigned himself to the hopelessness of his feelings, when he still wanted to believe Aominecchi would eventually love him back). Maybe having the man himself watching him, listening to the song had given it an extra effect and made the reality of the situation even more painful than it was. It also didn't help that the lyrics were even more fitting for their current relationship than before.

He chewed on his lip and took a deep breath to steel himself up. This wasn't going to ruin the perfect day he'd had with Aominecchi. He'd brush it off as if nothing had happened and they would finish their little karaoke adventure and take good memories of it with them. He rubbed his face and dried away his tears before he touched up his make-up. Aomine would never know he'd been crying and everything would go back to normal.

* * *

Kise came back to the booth a few minutes later. Aomine had already chosen a song, his favorite one, hoping it would lighten up the mood.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked when Kise came through the door, his casual, sort of fake smile plastered on his face. Aomine didn't like that expression on Kise.

"Yeah, I just got really emotional! I used to watch the drama where that song appeared and they always used it for the saddest moments." Kise assured him waving his hands dismissively and sitting down to pick up the tambourine.

Aomine didn't miss the light redness in the corners of Kise's eyes. It was barely there, Kise had clearly done a meticulous job hiding any traces of crying, but it was there nonetheless. Aomine wasn't sure anyone but him would've ever noticed them.

"It's nothing, really." Kise reiterated when he caught Aomine's concerned gaze.

Aomine looked away, focusing his attention on the screen. The thought that their recent interaction perfectly echoed a portion of the song crossed his mind briefly, and his chest tightened with guilt. He brushed the thought aside, knowing nothing good would come from it and instead began singing, as terrible as ever. He glanced sideways and found that Kise was back to laughing heartily, the smile reaching his golden eyes. The fact that he could put such a radiant smile on Kise's face was a sort of consolation for Aomine, not that he'd ever say it.

* * *

After three hours of karaoke and both of their throats becoming soar, they made the walk back to the station where Aomine would take the train back to Tokyo. At some point of their walk they had laced their hands, and Aomine couldn't bring himself to be bothered by it. The night was chilly and Kise's fingers were warm, and that was enough for him.

Kise kept yapping all the way, recalling all the funny moments –mostly of Aomine going off-key-, or the times when he'd shown off his best singing qualities, and especially how much fun he'd had when he'd convinced Aomine to sing in duet.

"I'm sure Aominecchi's now thoroughly impressed by my karaoke skills."

Aomine chuckled. "Yeah, I actually am." He admitted, his heart feeling light in his chest.

Kise beamed, squeezing Aomine's fingers. "Well, it was my long awaited karaoke date with Aominecchi, I gave it my all." They bumped their shoulders together and continued walking, with Kise never actually shutting up, but that was fine. Aomine had to concede that he'd actually had a lot of fun. He no longer regretted he'd asked to spend a little more time with Kise today. Sure, things had gotten a little bit awkward at some point, but they'd somehow managed to rescue de evening and enjoy themselves. It had been a good idea after all.

Kise was the first to let go of Aomine's hand once they reached the station. Aomine didn't miss the reluctance in the motion, and his own hand almost chased after the other's warmth instinctively. Kise tucked his hands away in his pockets and smiled giddily.

"Well, thanks for coming with me today Aominecchi! It was a lot of fun!"

Aomine smiled. "Yeah I… it wasn't too bad anyway."

Kise snickered as if he could see right through Aomine's disinterested façade, and he probably could. Kise _did_ know him better than anyone after all. Kise knew of all his flaws, had seen him at his worst, had actually suffered from it. Aomine regretfully remembered how poorly he'd treated Kise during their game in the Inter-High, how he'd openly mocked him for being weak. In spite of all that, Kise still loved him. The thought made Aomine's chest clench painfully once again.

"Uhm, by the way…" he began, feeling suddenly ashamed of what he wanted to ask. "Is your foot better now?"

Kise flashed his million-watt smile at him and nodded. "Yeah, the physician has even allowed me to take regular practice for the past two weeks."

"Oh, that's great." Aomine replied, ruffling his own hair nervously. It was a relief to know Kise would actually be able to play again, because Aomine was dying to face him on the court once more. "I was just thinking we could like… play a one-on-one or something. My folks won't be home next weekend, you could crash at my place afterwards…" the implicit message in the suggestion was glaringly obvious, and Aomine had to look away, hoping Kise wouldn't notice how much he was blushing.

Kise looked a little surprised by the proposal, but he smiled nonetheless and nodded again. "Sure! I didn't know Aominecchi was so eager to get his ass kicked." he giggled "Just know I won't be holding back at all, I have to get my revenge for the Inter-High."

Aomine chuckled and he quirked an eyebrow, the simple motion almost a dare in itself. "Say who's gonna' kick whose ass?"

"Me, yours, of course. The only one who can beat Aominecchi's Aominecchi after all. Oh, and Kagamicchi. And I can become both." He grinned confidently, winking.

Aomine had to admit that Kise's Perfect Copy was one fearsome ability and that he wasn't entirely sure he'd be able to stop him when the time came, but that was what made the challenge so exciting.

"We'll see about that." He quipped, a cocky smile playing on his lips.

"Aominecchi should hurry and grab his train already, you've obviously exhausted your brain's ability to deliver snarky replies."

Aomine was about to snap back, but when he looked at his phone he realized his train would be in the platform shortly. Although he wasn't happy with letting Kise have the last word, he didn't want to miss the train either. Just as he was about to surrender, an idea lit up in his mind, and he smirked devilishly.

"Fine, whatever you say, I'll see you on Saturday." He drawled, but before he turned around to enter the station, he grabbed Kise's shoulder and leaned in to kiss him short and quick, and a little bit rough on the mouth. When he stepped back, Kise's pale face was flushed beet red up to the tips of his ears. He smiled, satisfied.

"See? I don't even need any smart words to win." He said, and he waved good-bye as he walked through the gates and into the platform, stealing one last quick glance at Kise and his dumbfounded expression.

The moment he hopped on the train his phone buzzed with a new message from Kise.

 _Kise: Aominecchi you meanie!_ (╬⓪益⓪)

 _Kise: How dare you!_ (╬ﾟ◥益◤ﾟ) ╬ﾟ

 _Kise: I'm gonna' kick your sorry ass!_ ‾͟͟͞(((ꎤ ✧曲✧)̂—̳͟͞͞o

 _Kise: Kick. your .ass_ ヽ(#ﾟДﾟ)ﾉ┌┛Σ(ノ´Д`)ノ

Aomine laughed.

 **To be continued**

I can't believe I found a "kick your ass" emoji, but it's the most amazing thing ever, imho.

The Pikachu Invasion is a real event that takes place in Minato Mirai in Yokohama, they've been doing it for the last two years. The event actually takes place in August, while this chapter happens in late March, but I just wanted an excuse to drag Aomine's sorry ass to Kanagawa so Kise could take him to his favorite karaoke place.

I didn't really think of which songs they're singing in the karaoke, choose whatever you think is fitting. For the ballad I was thinking of Flavor of Life by Utada Hikaru, which was featured in the second season of the Hana Yori Dango drama some ten years ago (although Planetarium worked better for the dramatic scenes, but the lyrics didn't match this situation.)

I hope you guys are enjoying this. Thanks everyone that's commented, I appreciate them a lot and I'm happy to know people like this. I also wanted to let you know that this is as far as I had written, so further updates may take a little longer, but I do have the rest of the story outlined and half of next chapter written, so hopefully it won't take that long.

See you next time! Please let me know what you think of it!


	6. How you look at me

When Aomine arrived in the basketball court where they'd agreed to meet, Kise was already waiting. He was wearing regular sports clothing: a loose red t-shirt and faded black shorts. For once, Aomine didn't feel underdressed. Kise wasn't facing him when he stepped on the court, instead he was looking in the opposite direction, doing some warm-up stretches. The one he was currently engaged in involved being completely bent over, giving Aomine a front-row sight of his perky buttocks and his strained, taut calves, which Aomine had never stopped to observe before, something he now deeply regretted.

Aomine was about to call out to Kise when the other boy rose back to his feet and started stretching his arms above his head and rolling his shoulders to loosen them up. Aomine saw the perfect opportunity to give in to his primal idiot instincts and, without thinking it too hard, he threw the basketball he'd brought from home straight to the back of Kise's head. The ball connected with a satisfying thump and Kise yelped, turning around enraged. His expression softened as soon as his golden eyes met Aomine's blues.

"MEAN AOMINECCHI!"

Aomine laughed and picked up the ball to spin it on his index fingers.

"What?" he shrugged dismissively. "I was just reminiscing the time we first met." He said with a teasing voice.

To his surprise, Kise's cheeks grew a little bit red and he looked away, pouting. "Aominecchi's the meanest." He mumbled.

Aomine was about to slap himself for his lack of sensitivity, and apologize, but before he could do that, Kise swatted the basketball away from him, dribbled towards the net and took a shooting stance.

"If Aominecchi's not gonna' be taking this seriously tell me already so I don't waste my time." He said, almost spitefully.

Aomine frowned. There'd be time to apologize later.

"As if I _could_ take the luxury of not being serious with you." He said, already standing in front of Kise.

Kise shot the ball and Aomine was able to graze it with the tips of his fingers, but it wasn't enough to deviate its course and it fell down the net cleanly. He groaned. "See?" he remarked, jogging to fetch the ball.

Kise seemed slightly satisfied by this, but he still pouted. "You've never used the Zone on me, and I _have_ used Perfect Copy against you".

Aomine started dribbling past the inner court, where Kise was waiting to block him. "Haah? That time hardly counts, the only one you could copy was me, and not even for a long time."

"So? The only one who can beat Aominecchi is Aominecchi, right? That should've been enough."

Kise snatched the ball before Aomine could pass the half court. Before he could take three steps, though, Aomine caught up to him and stole it back, a satisfied grin growing on his lips. Taking advantage of Kise's confusion, he dribbled to the opposite side of the court and dunked the ball down the net.

"Liste to me, Kise." He began, his smirk growing smug. "I _always_ play you seriously. But I'm not gonna' use the Zone for this, so give it a rest." Not today at least. Perhaps some other time.

Kise blushed a little and his golden eyes seemed to brighten, apparently pleased with Aomine's little admission. Aomine decided it had been a good idea to at least let Kise know that –because it was true- in compensation for messing the mood earlier.

"Fine, but if Aominecchi won't use the Zone, I won't use Perfect Copy either."

Aomine felt a little relieved to hear that. Partly because he didn't want Kise to injure himself when he was just healed –that was the whole reason he wasn't using the Zone-,and partly because he wasn't sure he could actually face Kise's Perfect Copy and come out unscathed. Not that he'd ever admit to that.

* * *

Four games later, Kise was ready to collapse. He was exhausted, even if they'd been playing for less than an hour. He had trouble breathing and his heart was thundering in his chest so hard he thought his ribs might burst. All his muscles screamed in pain and he felt sweat tricking down his forehead, his chest, his legs. His clothes were drenched and sticky and gross. And yet he had never felt so alive. That's how it ought to be when playing Aomine: challenging, exhilarating. He couldn't even afford to blink if he wanted a chance to win. And he'd won, two out of their four "whoever makes five baskets first wins" matches. And both times, when sinking the final point, he'd felt his heart soar and a loud, incontrollable roar surging from his lungs.

And yet, that lingering admiration kept nagging at the back of his head. The Aomine that had made him love basketball, the man whose beautiful form he'd been trying to imitate for three years, how could someone like that lose? When it first happened, back in the Winter Cup, Kise couldn't believe what he was seeing. He wasn't even sure if he was glad that Aomine had finally found the worthy challenge he had been seeking for so long, or saddened to see him lose. And after all these months, after all that training, a small part of Kise still didn't want to see Aomine defeated, still wanted to see him in his full, unconquered glory.

"Getting tired, pretty boy?"

Kise sneered, dribbling the ball calmly. The score was 3-2 in Aomine's favor. He breathed heavily.

"You're not looking so fresh either, handsome."

The last comment was a freudian slip. He tried to act naturally, but it wasn't easy when Aomine was looking so painfully desirable right now. Panting heavily, sweating, his muscles flexed and hardened and the veins in his strong arms popping out, his brow furrowed, the angles of his face looked sharper. A fleeting moment of distraction had him following a single drop of sweat sliding down Aomine's bicep, the droplet glistening against the dark skin. Kise wanted to lick it.

"I did say you're always a pain in the ass." Aomine replied, apparently unfazed by Kise's slip.

"That's quite an _interesting_ choice of words, isn't it, Aominecchi?" Kise teased, licking his lips suggestively.

Aomine blushed and his stance became stiff for a split second, enough for Kise to break away from the defense and dunk the ball down the net, evening out the score.

When Aomine caught up with him and mumbled "that was dirty", Kise winked at him and returned a playful "If you can't handle this level of dirty, what are you gonna do when we get to your place?" before turning away to hide his own blush. Teasing Aomine was amazing, especially because he got to see the cutest blushes on those dark cheeks, but saying such things with a straight face was incredibly hard for him too, and he wouldn't hear the end of it if Aominecchi found out. It was a double-edged game, yet Kise couldn't resist the temptation.

"I'm gonna teach you _real_ 'dirty' later." Aomine promised, the corner of his lips twitching upwards. "You better not chicken out then, pretty boy."

Kise felt his knees tremble.

* * *

Aomine shot the ball and didn't even wait to make sure it fell down the net –he knew it would- before letting himself fall on his back against the court's concrete, his breathing labored and his heart thrumming loudly in his chest. His muscles were sore and throbbing, and he was sure he would not be able to lift a single finger to save his life. A few beats later he felt the satisfying 'swoosh' of the ball going down the net and he grinned, pleased with himself. He felt so alive right now, more than he'd felt in a really long time.

"Oi, what's up Aominecchi? Tired already?" Kise appeared in his field of vision, still standing upright and towering over him, his hands on his hips.

"You bet I am! We played seventeen games!"

Kise grinned "It's my win then!" he announced, clapping.

Aomine cocked his brow. "Huh? Are you dumb? That last game was 3-2, it means _I_ won!"

Kise frowned and bent over so his face was parallel to Aomine's. "That's right, 3-2! The winner's the one that scored FIVE baskets first, not three. If you bail out midgame, it's your loss by forfeit!"

"Like hell it is! I would've won if we'd kept playing, of course it's my win!"

"How can you be so sure of that? I won eight times! I would've turned it around!"

"I won eight times too! I wouldn't have let you turn it around!"

Kise huffed and rolled his eyes. His golden bangs were cascading down and dripping with sweat. From this position, Aomine could catch all the smooth angles of Kise's pretty face. His hair caught the light of the sun and accentuated all of his best features beautifully: the sharp corners of his eyes, his strong cheekbones, the elegant curve of his nose, his full rosy lips… It was no wonder that such a beautiful guy would be a popular model, Aomine thought, of course everyone would want to have that gorgeous face selling their products.

"You can't even move, I could score three baskets now and you wouldn't be able to stop me."

"I so would. But you can't because the game's over and I won."

He reckoned at this point he was just trying to get under Kise's skin, but it was too funny to watch his lower lip poking out in an unhappy pout. Annoying Kise was too tempting.

"Aominecchi's the worst! You're a terrible, terrible loser! I'm never playing one-on-one with you again! And I'm leaving you there and going back home, I don't care if you can't move!"

Aomine laughed, which only served to further annoy Kise, who straightened his back and stuck out his tongue at him.

"Awww, c'mon Kise, don't be like that! C'mere, I'll tell you a secret."

Kise raised an eyebrow, obviously not buying Aomine's bullshit, but he insisted.

"C'mon, I'll even let you say you beat me, just hear me out."

Kise huffed and kneeled beside him, resignation drawn on his face, although his expression also seemed to be saying he was absolutely expecting to hear something really, really stupid.

"Come closer, it's a secret, no one else can hear it."

Kise looked so hilariously unamused, it was all Aomine could do not to laugh. In spite of his suspicions, Kise still leaned closer, his face now inches away from Aomine's. The color gold flooded his vision. Locks of hair as bright as sunlight tickled his cheeks, his chin and his forehead. A drop of sweat leaked from the tip of Kise's chin and on Daiki's cheek, but he didn't really mind. Aomine lifted his right hand and cupped Kise's cheek, his long fingers tangling with the blond hair on the back of his head. Every muscle in his arm screamed in pain, but Aomine ignored it.

"Closer." He whispered one last time before pulling Kise down so he could snatch a quick, hungry kiss from those sweet lips. After breaking the kiss, his lips moved closer to Kise's ear and he whispered "I like playing you the most." He couldn't stand holding his arm in an upright position any longer, so he let it fall at his side and watched with a wide grin how a bright red color crept up Kise's neck and on to his face, his cheeks and even the tips of his ears. Kise turned his face away with a huff and muttered. "Aominecchi 's the meanest." He grabbed Aomine's wrist and pulled him along as he got back on his feet.

Since their last encounter, Aomine had noticed how much he enjoyed watching the wide range of emotions Kise displayed on a regular basis: from the way he pouted when he was unhappy, to how he rolled his eyes when he was annoyed, or how he blushed and frowned when he was embarrassed, and how he smiled and his whole face seemed to glow when he was happy, and how his eyes sparkled when he laughed. And now he took it upon himself to stir such reactions as much as he could. And making Kise annoyed or frustrated just happened to be incredibly easy.

"Let's go back to your place, I'm starving. Since Aominecchi lost, he has to buy me dinner."

"Gee, alright, alright, just don't blame me if those tight pants of yours stop fitting."

"AOMINECCHI I'M GONNA DROP YOU IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD AND WAIT FOR A CAR TO RUN YOU OVER!"

Aomine laughed.

* * *

As soon as they stepped into Aomine's house, they both collapsed on the floor.

"I'm _never_ again carrying your heavy ass _anywhere_!" Kise declared with an exhausted sigh as he kicked off his shoes and plopped backwards on the wooden floor.

Aomine snickered. "Well it's the least you could do after I graciously conceded you a victory." He teased and laughed when Kise smacked his chest.

"You are _so_ buying me something nice for dinner, _Aho_ minecchi!" he squeaked angrily and pushed himself back to his feet. "Get up, there's an Indian place not far away and they do home delivery."

Aomine groaned. "Oi, cut me some slack, you're the one that has a job." He protested, as he forced his screaming muscles to move.

"I told you before, I'm taking a break from modeling, I haven't had a shoot since the last time I came here." Kise replied, browsing through his phone, probably looking for the contact info on that Indian place he wanted to eat from.

"Huuh? And why's that?" Aomine asked, internally displeased by the news. Of course Kise would stop modeling now that he'd grown to appreciate looking at his body. Maybe he could go to a recycling shop and see if they had any old magazine where he appeared.

"I wanna focus on basketball. From the beginning I wasn't that into the model thing, it was just easy cash. But I prefer kicking Aominecchi's ass over getting extra money." He replied with a cheeky grin as he helped himself to Aomine's phone and dialed a number. "And I don't have money now because the payment from that last shoot will come in May." He added.

"May? Why? Isn't it supposed to be bad to take jobs without getting paid first?"

"I told my agency I was taking a break, but the magazine absolutely wanted me for their Spring cover so they pushed forward the photoshoot and even gave me a two-page spread and an interview; they wanted to get the "exclusive" about my retirement. They gave me half of the payment, but if the magazine sells over 10,000 copies in its first week they'll give me an extra bonus, isn't that nice?"

Aomine hummed. So if he waited until May he could get a magazine with Kise's photos. May was still more than a month away though. It'd been little over two months since they started with this bizarre relationship, but one more month felt like a long time. Would they still be doing this by then? He knew Kise had had girlfriends in the past, and some of those relationships had lasted less than two weeks. It wouldn't be strange if they ended whatever this was before May. He didn't want to think about that, though. He liked this. He had fun with this. And Kise seemed happy too. There was no reason to end it, right?

"In that case you should've kept the money, cos you're a hundred years early to beat me." He said, leaning over Kise's shoulder to look at the restaurant's menu.

Kise jabbed his ribs with his elbow and shot him a dirty look. "Yes, I would like to order one Menu 3, please?" he said in his typical model voice to the phone, then mouthed "Sore loser" at Aomine. "Yes, all the extras in. And we'll also have one Menu 5? Minus the Karela Sabzi, that's the one with goya melon, right?" a pause. "Yeah, without that one."

Aomine quirked an eyebrow. Although he wasn't too pleased with Kise ordering for him, he was surprised to hear that he actually knew about Aomine's dislike for goya. If he knew that much, he could trust him to pick something he liked, right? How'd Kise know so much about him anyway? Was it because he loved him? He scratched his head. What was Kise's favorite food? And Tetsu's? Tetsu liked those disgustingly sweet vanilla milkshakes from MajiBa but was that his favorite food? And what about the things he disliked? Aomine couldn't think of one in particular and he hated himself for thinking that maybe Kagami would know. Yet Kise knew about the things he hated. Kise had once claimed he knew Aomine better than anyone, but he hadn't taken him seriously back then. Now, though, he couldn't help but wonder if that had been true, and what it meant. It meant that Kise observed him, listened to him, paid attention to him and retained all the information for later use. It meant that Kise cared. It was just beginning to dawn on him that he may have been taking Kise's love lightly. His heart twisted painfully in his chest.

"Oi, I'm all sweaty and gross, mind if I borrow your shower while the food gets here?" Kise asked, pulling him from his thoughts.

He nodded absentmindedly.

Kise started towards the bathroom, untangling himself from Aomine who was still leaning his chin on his shoulder, which made him lose balance a little. Halfway down the hallway, Kise turned, a devilish smirk on his lips.

"Care to join me?" he winked.

Aomine almost choked on his own spit. Kise giggled.

"Just kidding, just kidding." Kise swatted his hand playfully, still laughing. "We're saving the main dish for later, right?" he added with one more mischievous wink.

* * *

Kise pushed his soaking golden locks away from his eyes to check Aomine's bath supplies. He frowned at the limited choice of shampoo –just one bottle of regular stuff that smelled like deodorant and had probably cost 150 yen or less- and no conditioner. He'd kind of expected Aomine to be a caveman in terms of personal care, but this was almost ridiculous. He'd have to bring his own stuff over next time.

 _Next time_. The thought seemed to be a very recurrent one when it came to these weird not-quite-dates with Aominecchi.

He decided to forego the shampoo for today. Water should suffice to wash out the sweat, and he didn't want his hair smelling like that. Besides, who knew what kind of horrible chemicals that thing had? Just because he wasn't modeling anymore didn't mean he didn't care about his hair, it was his pride and joy!

Once he had rinsed his hair thoroughly, he looked out to find body soap. He kind of expected Aomine to have the cheapest brand, or worse, one of those disgusting "masculine odor" soaps. He scrunched his brow when he didn't find it. Did Aominecchi not use soap at all? _Eew_.

Before he could yell at Aominecchi for being unsanitary, his eyes found what they were looking for. Kind of. There was a bar of white soap inside a plastic cup that also held Aomine's razor. He'd never seen Aomine shaving, never even noticed if he had some sort of facial hair. Did he? Somehow the thought of Aominecchi shaving sent a shock of electricity straight to his groin. He cursed under his breath and focused on the soap. He scrunched his nose. Really? Neutral soap? In a bar? He might as well wash his clothes with it while he was at it. This would be terrible for his skin. He couldn't see a sponge either, so he assumed Aomine rubbed the soap directly on his body, which was gross and unsanitary and also gave him a hard on.

If he didn't know that he was getting some later, he would've jerked off and jizzed on the wall out of pure spite towards Aomine. For being a caveman with insufficient body care products and for making him think of how handsome he'd look while shaving or how hot it was to hold the bar of soap he rubbed all over his body. Instead, he decided to forego the soap too (whatever his cock thought about it, washing his body and face with the same bar of soap that Aomine probably rubbed on his armpits, his feet and his privates was _not_ sexy) and turned off the hot water to cool off. A quick, cold shower would be good for his blood circulation too, and he couldn't really take too long since he didn't have any real products to go through his usual bath routine. Stupid Aominecchi.

Aomine heard his bathroom door creak open and Kise walked outside, wearing nothing but the towel wrapped around his waist. His body was emitting vapor and his golden hair was still sticky with water. A few droplets were gliding down the expanse of Kise's milky white chest. Aomine swallowed hard.

"Hey, Aominecchi, pass me my bag, I brought some extra clothes just in case." He chirped, pointing at the equipment bag that he'd thrown on the couch. Aomine pulled himself out of his daze and passed it to him, his fingers grazing Kises' as the bag passed from one hand to the other, sending tingles down his spine. Kise ruffled through the contents of the bag and pulled out a pair of loose black boxers. He slipped them on in the middle of the hallway, undraped the towel from around his waist and flung it over his shoulders to catch any drizzling water from his hair.

"That was fast." Aomine finally said, when his throat decided not to be dry anymore. "I'd always thought you'd take hours on the shower."

Kise frowned. "I would've, if you had any sort of decent cleaning products. You're a total savage, Aominecchi, how can you even function in civilization?" he complained, pointing an accusatory finger at him. "Is the food here yet?"

Aomine nodded. "Wanna' eat on the table or should we watch something in my room?" he asked, pointing with his thumb at the counter, where the takeout plastic bag was placed.

Kise giggled, a naughty glint catching his eyes. "Hehe, it seems Aominecchi's getting hungry in more than one sense."

Aomine's cheeks burned. "I-I-I didn't mean it like that!" he barked, trying to hide his embarrassment.

With a cheeky wink, Kise turned and started towards the bedroom, his hips swaying. "I know, I know. Aominecchi's just too pure and easy to tease." Before Aomine could protest to that too, Kise cocked his head backwards to look him in the eye. "Let's go to your room, I'd like to get warm and cozy." He added, the towel still draped across his naked shoulders.

"Oi, are you just gonna walk half-naked all over my house?" Aomine asked. He was used to seeing Kise shirtless, but maybe it was the knowledge of what they were going to do later that made it hard to breathe every time his eyes were caught in the curve of slim milky hips or the sharp edges of chiseled abs.

Kise didn't even stop to reply and waved his hand casually. "Or get my clothes all sweaty and dirty when you're just gonna take them off later?"

Aomine felt awfully compelled to hide his face in the ground, because no matter how dark his skin, there was no hiding the burning blush that must be spreading all over his face and neck. He really needed to grow a thicker skin so Kise could no longer get to him so easily. He bit his lip and hurried to pick up the bag with the food in one hand. He trotted to catch up with Kise and slapped his butt casually.

"I'm gonna be taking these off too and you still put them on." He said, forcing a smug smirk.

The smirk was returned full force, the twinkle in Kise's eyes growing more mischievous than before. "If you're this distracted with just my shirt off, what would've happened if I'd let you see all the merchandise, hm?"

God damn it.

* * *

Kise sighed contentedly. "Ahhh, that place's really the best."

"I'll give you that, it was pretty great."

"There's nothing like a nice bath and delicious food after kicking Aominecchi's ass. Today might just be _the_ perfect day."

Aomine wanted to retort, but when he turned to look at Kise, he found him leisurely licking sauce off his fingers, his pink tongue gliding from the base to the tip of his index, then sucking his thumb into his mouth to clean it off. Aomine swallowed heavily. He _had_ to be doing it on purpose. No one looked so hot while licking their fingers if they weren't trying to. After he popped the thumb out, he swirled his tongue around the tip of his index and sucked it too.

Before he could move on to the middle finger, Aomine grabbed him by the wrist and pulled the pale hand toward his face. He pulled the middle finger into his mouth and cleaned it with his tongue, the taste of the spices burning his taste buds. After letting go of the middle finger he dragged his tongue over Kise's palm, following the trail of the sauce down to his wrist and his forearm. His dark eyes were locked with Kise's and ablaze with lust as he sucked on his pulse, where the last droplets of sauce had fallen.

Kise's cheeks were a warm crimson, his golden eyes wide, following all of Aomine's moves as if he were entranced.

"A-aominecchi looks very hungry for dessert." He chirped, trying to sound teasing, but there was no edge to it.

Aomine let go of Kise's wrist, a small red mark on the spot he'd latched to, pale fingers glistening with saliva. He brought his face as close as he could to Kise's, close enough to smell the spices in his breathe, his eyes never breaking from Kise's.

"And what if I am?"

He didn't miss the hitch in Kise's breathing, or how his cheeks grew a brighter scarlet. His own face was growing warmer with the proximity, but he was confident that his darker skin would keep his inevitable blush hidden. He wanted to smirk. Maybe he was finally getting better at reading Kise and beating him at his teasing game, and it was great. But before he could dwell too much in that, his eyes found Kise's lips, the bottom sticking out in a small pout, a small drop of sauce smeared on the corner, and if this wasn't literal hunger, Aomine didn't know what was, nor did he care as he closed in to press his lips to Kise's. His hands cupped Kise's blushing cheeks to deepen the kiss. The moment Kise's lips parted, Aomine's tongue thrust into his mouth and even if it was rationally gross to be able to taste Kise's last meal inside his mouth, all he could actually care about was the heat, the wetness, the growing desire and a sort of thirst he didn't know how to quench. Kise moaned into the kiss, his hands gripping Aomine's shirt tightly, pulling him closer still if that was even possible. Aomine groaned and bucked his hips, finding friction in Kise's crotch, and they groaned in unison. It was just then that he realized he'd somehow moved from Kise's side to end between Kise's legs, and the thought made him so self-conscious he had to break the kiss.

Kise panted softly but still managed to pull his lips up in a smirk. "Getting cold feet, Aominecchi?"

Aomine frowned. His hand found the nape of Kise's neck and pulled him in for an angry kiss, fishing out a surprised moan out of Kise's mouth.

"Am not." He growled, as they parted for air.

He was about to close in for yet another kiss when a pale hand pushed him by the chest. "What were you saying about cold feet?" Aomine snarled, his pants growing frustratingly tight.

"I just wanna make sure before we get all pointlessly heated up, did you actually buy condoms this time?"

Aomine blushed. "'Course I did! And didn't you bring your own anyway?"

"Well yeah, but they're _my_ size, hell if I know yours!"

Aomine's face was burning at this point. It had never really crossed his mind how much things like size mattered when it came to sex, at least not until he sheepishly walked into the pharmacy and had to spend half an hour in the condom aisle scrutinizing every box to make sure he got one that would fit him. The fact that the pharmacist gave him a judgmental look that clearly said "You're too young to be fooling around", hadn't helped at all.

"W-w-well whatever, I did buy them, so it doesn't matter. And just so you know I also did some… research about… this. I-I… got some l-l-l-lube too." He hated himself. He hated Kise. He hated this whole stupid thing. Kise was totally going to make fun of him for being such an embarrassing quasi-virgin.

As expected, Kise laughed. But he was also blushing, so maybe it wasn't so bad. "Aominecchi's really cute, being concerned about doing it right and everything. It's not fair." he giggled, and Aomine wanted to punch him. It was already embarrassing enough that he'd had to actually Google all that shit (and thank god for the incognito window on their home PC's browser ), but Kise making fun of him was too much. He almost regretted going through all that trouble just to make sure he wouldn't hurt Kise and fuck it all up. "Ah, but I actually brought my own lube." Kise added, reaching towards the night stand and picking up a small, transparent bottle. "It's easier to clean up afterwards and it doesn't smell." Aomine inspected the bottle for a moment. He frowned slightly. It kind of bothered him that Kise had a lot more experience in this area than him, but he decided it wasn't the time to overthink it. If Kise preferred this one, he had no reason to object.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by the feeling of long fingers wrapping around his dick and stroking it leisurely. An unmanly yelp escaped his lips.

"O-oi, w-w-wha—"

Kise looked up at him, blinking with feigned innocence. "Little Aominecchi didn't seem too into it, so I thought I'd help." He replied, without even halting the motions of his hand. Aomine realized he had indeed gone soft after getting too distracted with thoughts of condoms, lube and embarrassing google searches about anal sex, but he wasn't gonna stay that for long if Kise kept dragging his fingers slowly up and down his shaft. He groaned.

"Aominecchi, take off your shirt." Kise instructed as he pulled down his pants and boxers to let out his hardening cock.

He groaned again when Kise pressed his thumb on the head. "W-why?"

"Aominecchi has a nice body and I like to look at it." He answered simply, and Aomine wasn't even done pulling his shirt over his head when Kise's lips went down on his cock.

Daiki yelped and the sound was so embarrassing he covered his mouth with his hand. Kise chuckled, and the vibrations went straight to Aomine's dick, which caused him to yelp once more.

"O-o-oi! Stop that! That's not what—f-fuuuck."

Kise pulled back with a smirk. "This is just the first quarter, Aominecchi. We can't move on to the main event if little Aominecchi isn't at the top of his game." He pressed his lips to the head and trailed open mouthed kisses all the way to the base, then dragged his tongue back up and sucked the tip into his mouth. Aomine made the terrible mistake of looking down to find Kise's golden eyes fixed on him, clouded with lust and oozing desire, his pale cheeks blooming crimson, his lips wet and slightly swollen, wrapped around the head of his cock. He felt a rush of heat and he had to actually shove Kise's head away, fearing an encore of their previous encounter.

Kise just smirked. "See? _Now_ we're talking." He teased, pressing the tip of his index finger against the hardened length and grazing the flesh from the base to the tip.

Aomine looked away, awfully embarrassed. "S-s-so… should I uhm… pre-prepare you now?" He hated himself for being incapable of saying something so basic without stuttering. He wanted to appear confident and sure of himself, he didn't want Kise laughing at him for being an inexperienced virgin again, but he just couldn't.

Kise sat up and raised an eyebrow. "You don't have to worry about that, I can do it myself."

He considered the offer for a minute. It was tempting and could save him some embarrassment but… "Uhm… you know your body best so… if you want to… I just… I, eh… I wanted to try it." He regretted the words the moment they left his lips. He'd been reading about this whole thing to be ready, and maybe some of those texts had been a little suggestive about ways to pleasure your partner during the process and making it enjoyable for them, and maybe he'd let his imagination run a little wild and dirty with visions of Kise panting, flushed red, begging " _Pleaaase, Aominecchi… pleaaaaase don't tease_..." and maybe he had messed his boxers a little. No one needed to know about that.

To his surprise, Kise's face grew dark red in an instant, and he hid it behind his pale hands. "Aominecchi, you're horrible." He whined.

Daiki smirked with satisfaction. He pried Kise's hands away to be able to look at his flushed face and foggy eyes. "Y'know if you _want_ me to do it, you just have to say so." Kissing him short and hard, just enough to hear him gasp. He pushed him down on the bed and tapped his hips to indicate that he should raise them. When Kise complied, he grabbed a pillow to place it behind the small of Kise's back for support, then pulled the black boxers down to release Kise's hard cock, and it twitched slightly when the cool air reached it.

"If it hurts I'm never letting you top again!" Kise protested, still blushing crimson, but Aomine knew there was no actual threat in those words. He had a feeling Kise liked switching it up when it came to topping or bottoming. He reached for Kise's bottle of lube, squirted a generous amount on his palm and coated his fingers with the slick substance. The feeling was mildly unpleasant, but he forgot about that when he looked at Kise who had spread his legs and raised his hips, showing his round buttocks and the pink hole in between.

Too erotic.

He found himself between Kise's legs once again and grabbed his thigh to spread them further and get a better view of the prize. Hesitantly, he pressed the tip of his finger to the entrance and started to push inside, entranced by the sight of his finger disappearing into that hole that felt tight and hot around him. Kise's breath hitched.

"If-if it hurts you can tell me." He rushed to say, his finger halfway in.

Kise giggled. "It's just one finger, Aominecchi, don't be silly. Unlike _some people I know_ , I wouldn't let anyone stick something in my ass if I didn't know I'd enjoy it."

Aomine blushed furiously and looked away. "W-w-well, sorry for trusting you, asshole."

Kise gasped, and when Aomine turned to look at him, he found he was blushing and pouting too. "S-s-shut up, just carry on with it." He mumbled, avoiding his gaze. Apparently, they were both equally embarrassed, which made him feel a lot more confident about this.

Finally, he pushed his index inside all the way to the base. He started moving it tentatively, pulling out and back in slowly, not exactly sure of what to do, just trying to spread the lubricant inside. Kise sighed softly, his breath picking up its pace just slightly.

"Curl the tip a little" Kise breathed and it took Aomine a moment to understand what that meant, but once he did, he complied and awed at the satisfied sigh that left Kise's lips when he did. "Ahh, yes, just like that… I'm ready for another one." Kise continued, bucking his hips slightly for emphasis.

Seeing how Kise was enjoying it, he felt a little more confident adding the second finger. Kise's breath hitched once again. He tried curling the tips once more, and this time, he got a soft moan as a reply. "Feels good…" Kise sighed, one of his hands stroking his own dick leisurely. Aomine started scissoring his fingers slowly, testing the stretch while staring attentively at Kise's reactions to make sure he wasn't hurting.

Kise looked up at him and smiled. "It's really cute how Aominecchi's so concerned about my well-being." He said, and although it made Aomine embarrassed, the tone didn't seem to be trying to tease him. "You can add another one now."

He complied, the sight of Kise's asshole stretching around three of his fingers oddly fascinating. He wondered if his own ass had looked like this when Kise had fucked him. The thought weirded him out, so he pushed it away and increased the pace of his movements, pulling the three fingers out and slamming them in a little too forcefully. Kise groaned and arched his back. He continued trying to stretch the hole, spreading his fingers apart, his ears buzzing with the sounds of Kise's pants and groans. He pulled his fingers out once again and thrust them back in as far as they could go, curling the tips to graze the flesh around them, coating the inside with lube. Kise moaned loudly and shut his eyes.

"That's… that's enough Aominecchi." He panted, looking up to meet his eyes. "We can move on to the next part now."

Daiki felt the heat rushing to his head. He'd been so focused on what he was doing, he'd completely forgotten why he was fucking Kise's ass with his fingers. He swallowed hard and pulled his hand away, then watched as Kise crawled over to him, his golden eyes burning with lust.

"Condom" he said simply, extending his palm at Aomine.

"I-I can do that myself!" he protested, reaching out for the box and pulling one out, but before he could do anything else, Kise snatched it from his hands.

"I wanna do it though. 'Sides, Aominecchi's the kind that would try to open it with his teeth to look cool, but if you'd paid any attention at sex ed classes you'd know you're not supposed to do that." Kise replied nonchalantly, carefully tearing the package open and pulling the condom out. Aomine wanted to retort to that accusation, but he couldn't really find the words "So let me?" he added, looking up at him again, his eyes wide and shimmering, and all Aomine could do was nod and watch as Kise wrapped the condom over his hardened flesh slowly, his lips curling into a satisfied smirk when Aomine's breath hiccupped. He gasped louder when he felt the cool lube being smeared on top of the condom. The sensation was odd, the latex felt strange and kind of constricting on his skin, but he could still feel the cold of the lubricant, so apparently all those stories about "not feeling anything" with a condom were actually not true.

He shook his head. In the past, when he fantasized about how having sex would be like, he had never imagined that he would be overthinking everything so damned much. But actual sex seemed to be stranger and more complicated than porn magazines made it look like.

"Alright, we're all set." Kise announced cheerfully, and when Aomine looked up he found him already in his previous position, cheeks flushed, eyes dark with lust, his milky legs spread wide, his asshole slick with the residual drops of lube on the edge and he felt all semblance of rational thought abandon him at once. He gripped Kise's thigh tightly with one hand, the other one spreading his pink buttocks wider so he could get a better look of his goal. He pressed the head of his manhood against the entrance and was able to regain enough rationality to look up and find Kise's eyes.

"O-okay?" he croaked, his mind hazy with lust and his cock feeling painfully hard at this point.

Kise nodded. "Okay." He said simply, his voice strained.

Aomine didn't need any more signs, he started pushing forward, watching as the ring of muscles stretched around the head of his cock, but not enough to actually put it in. He tried again, but to no avail. He feared that, if he pushed too hard, it would hurt Kise, but it didn't seem like he was getting anywhere like this.

"Fuck" he groaned, not sure about what to do.

"That's what I thought we were doing, but it doesn't seem to be the case." Kise teased, and if he had it in him to start teasing, it meant Aomine was failing spectacularly. He felt embarrassment and frustration begin to well up in the pit of his stomach, and suddenly, not being laughed at by Kise started to seem more important than having sex with him.

"Shit, shut up." He growled.

Kise seemed to catch on to his discomfort and sat up, cupping his face in his pale hands.

"Sorry Aominecchi, I didn't mean to pressure you." He smiled, soft, gentle, loving and kissed him on the mouth. "Don't scowl like that, you're too young to be getting wrinkles. Sex is about enjoying ourselves!" he continued, one of his hands wrapping around Aomine's cock and guiding it to his entrance again and circling his long legs around his waist to pull him forward. "It's okay, I won't break. If it hurts I'll tell you." He reassured him one more time before leaning back on the bed and undulating his hips to rub his behind against the tip of his cock, making him groan.

His grip on Kise's hips tightened and he breathed deep once before pressing harder against the entrance and finally managing to push the head of his cock inside. It was almost surreal, watching his cock disappear between Kise's buttocks, and feeling the burning heat enveloping him. Once he'd made it past the initial resistance, pushing deeper seemed incredibly easy, and it was so hot and tight he wanted to bury himself inside, everything else be damned. Kise groaned, his breathing labored, his fingernails digging into Aomine's biceps.

Once he was fully sheathed, he looked up again to find Kise's unfocused eyes, his lower lip caught in his porcelain teeth, his nostrils flaring for breath. "Y-y-you alright?" he asked, panting, his grip on Kise's thigh tightening. It briefly crossed his mind that he might leave a bruise there, but the thought didn't quite bother him. Kise looked like he was in pain. He tried to think of the time Kise had fucked him; he couldn't remember much of it, just that it'd felt good. He got suddenly worried that he was making this whole thing shitty for Kise because he wasn't experienced at all.

Kise nodded slowly. "Yeah, 's fine. Just… just give me a moment. Aominecchi's kinda big…"

He felt blood and heat rushing to his crotch, and his face burned when he heard Kise's off-handed admission.

"Oi! Don't get bigger, stupid Aominecchi!" Kise squeaked suddenly.

"S-s-sorry!"

They stared at each other for a silent minute. Aomine tried to school his breathing to a normal pace and loosened his hold on Kise's milky thigh –too late, the skin was already red and beginning to bruise-. Kise was trying to steady his breathing too. After a minute or two of just quietly watching each other trying to catch their breathes, Kise smiled and then laughed. Aomine wasn't sure of why he was laughing, but he felt he wasn't laughing _at_ him for a change, and he found himself smiling back.

"I'm okay now, you can move."

Daiki took a deep breath and pulled back slightly, then thrust back in and groaned. It felt good, and hot and tight and he was probably not going to last very long. But he wanted to make this enjoyable for Kise too, so he tried to focus in trying to hold back for as long as possible. He repeated the motion slowly and looked up to try and decipher Kise's expression. He was biting his lip taking long, deep breathes.

"Does it hurt?" Aomine asked, halting his motions.

"Nah, I'm fine."

"But it doesn't feel good either." He inferred, frustrated.

Kise just smiled apologetically. "Try to go a little faster. I'll tell you when it feels good. I can't believe I'm saying this to Aominecchi, but don't overthink it." He reassured with a playful wink, rolling his hips. His pale hands cupped Aomine's cheeks and pulled him in for a kiss before he could retort. He parted his lips, allowing Kise's tongue inside his mouth and increased the pace of his movements. He started thrusting deeper, wondering if there was any spot in particular that he should be aiming for. Kise's hands moved from his face to tangle around his neck, burying into his scalp and he felt him moan into the kiss.

"Ahhh, yes, that's more like it…" Kise sighed against his mouth, rocking his hips to match Aomine's thrusts.

Aomine felt encouraged by this and increased the pace a bit more growling when he felt the walls clenching around his cock. He broke the kiss trying to catch his breath and caught the sounds of Kise's moans growing louder. His vision was starting to grow blurry. After a particularly hard thrust, he felt Kise scream and arch his back off the bed. "Yes! Right there!" and his fingernails dug into Aomine's shoulders and even though it hurt, it felt good too. He growled and looked up to watch Kise's face. His lips were parted, moaning loudly, his pale skin was flushed scarlet and pearled with sweat, some blond strands of hair sticking to his forehead. His golden eyes were hazy with pleasure, but when they met Aomine's they sparkled and it was different, it wasn't pure lust but something else, bigger, gentler, and warmer.

"A-aaaah… Aomine-cchi…"

Love, he realized. When their gazes met, all he could see in Kise's eyes was raw, passionate love. And he loved him sincerely, selflessly, never even expecting to get his feelings reciprocated. Selflessness was not a word one would associate with Kise Ryouta (or with anyone in the Generation of Miracles, for that matter), and yet, when it came to their relationship –whatever it was- Kise was always giving him so much and never asking for anything in return. Aomine's heart ached. It wasn't fair, really. Kise deserved so much better than him. Someone that wouldn't hurt him. Someone that could love him back as much as he loved Aomine. Someone that wouldn't take advantage of his feelings to mend his own broken heart. Someone that would look at him the way Kise looked at Aomine, with love pouring out of his beautiful eyes. Someone that could give himself to Kise heart, body and soul, like Kise did to Aomine, no bounds, no doubts, no restrains. Kise smiled at him and pulled him down for another kiss, hungry and sloppy, as if he'd somehow felt Aomine's regret and wanted to erase it. His head was spinning with the heat, the pleasure, the desire and that painful sense of guilt.

"K-kise I…" He wanted to drown in Kise's mouth and forget about everything else. And he knew he wouldn't be able to hold back for much longer. "I-I'm gonna…" he groaned when Kise clenched around him again and it was game over. His vision turned white and every thought was erased from his mind. He vaguely caught the sound of Kise moaning his name and a hot sticky feeling on his stomach, but he could barely register his own consciousness. He panted heavily. All strength was drained from his body, so he slumped on top of Kise, waiting for his head to stop feeling like he was floating in a cloud.

When his eyes finally regained focus, the first thing he saw was a pair of golden pools watching him lovingly, and he felt like shit.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled without thinking.

Kise frowned.

"You know, Aominecchi, that's got to be somewhere in the top three of things you should _never_ say after having sex."

That truly brought him back to consciousness.

"Ah, no, I-I didn't mean…" his face was burning.

"Anyway, Aominecchi's heavy and you should throw the condom away, so get off me already." Kise continued, as if nothing had happened.

Still a little dumbfounded, Aomine nodded and finally pulled out, suddenly becoming very aware of the feeling of his own cum on his dick and how gross it was. He pulled the condom off and tied a knot at the end, then got off the bed.

"I-I'll bring something to clean up." He offered weakly before rushing for the bathroom.

* * *

Kise sighed, watching Aomine leave the room without even bothering to cover his naked ass. Having such a nice body _had_ to be a sin.

" _I'm sorry."_

He wiped away the small tears that had formed at the corners of his golden eyes with his forearm. He was fine. He had no reason to be crying. They'd fucked and it had been kind of weird at the start, but everything turned out nicely in the end. It's not like this was their first time or anything. And it had felt good, even if Aominecchi had been a little clueless about it. Aominecchi had been kind and caring and tried his best to make him feel good and had been concerned about not hurting him. But it was that kindness that wasn't quite love –that would never be quite love- that hurt most of all, because it made it impossible to stop loving him. He shouldn't have let things come so far, he'd known from the start that he would get inevitably hurt by all this. He rubbed the stubborn tears away. He wasn't going to fuck this up like he had with the karaoke last week. The sex had been good, more than he'd ever hoped to get from Aominecchi, he needed to heed his own advice and stop overthinking everything.

Aomine came back a few minutes later carrying Kise's training bag and a box of tissues. Kise noticed the splatters of his own cum above Aomine's navel –of which the guy in question seemed unaware- and blushed a little.

"You said you had a change of clothes here and it's still kinda chilly, so I brought this."

Kise sat up and chuckled. He couldn't even be sad when Aominecchi was being so cute and kind right in front of him. The sadness would probably swing back and smack him face first once they parted, but he wanted to enjoy this happy afterglow while he could.

"Aominecchi should clean himself up first, you look rather shameless like that." He teased, pointing at the white sticky spot that contrasted with Aomine's dark skin. Aomine looked down and the tips of his ears turned crimson red when he saw the evidence. Kise laughed again and reached out for a tissue to clean himself.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, cleaning themselves up and getting dressed, Aomine finally climbed back on the bed and looked up at him.

"You better not be thinking of trying to leave now." He said, his eyebrows knit in a frown.

"Why, you wanna cuddle that bad?" Kise asked with a smirk, even though cuddling was exactly what he wanted. He decided not to tease Aominecchi so hard about it. "Besides, my ass is sore, and look at this," he pointed at his inner right thigh and the reddish mark from Aomine's hand that was starting to turn purple, only half of it covered by his boxers. "Aominecchi's a total brute, the last thing I wanna do now is walk around."

The frown on Aomine's face morphed into an apologetic , sullen look. "Sorry. I… I'll be more careful next time."

 _Next time._

Kise smiled and cupped Aomine's cheeks in his hands. He liked that, the contrast of his pale skin against Aomine's tanned one. "I'm just kidding, Aominecchi, don't take it so seriously." He pecked his lips playfully twice. "I mean it does hurt, but it's the usual stuff, the usual. 'Sides, if you look at your back on the mirror, you'll see I marked you pretty badly myself." He grinned shamelessly, thinking of the angry red scratch marks he'd left on Aomine's shoulders, and watching with glee as the color rose to Aomine's cheeks again. "Anyway, I'm really tired, so I hope you're either in for the cuddling option or sleeping on the couch because I'm not moving from here." He sentenced, pulling the covers over himself and laying down on the pillow. He was half expecting to get kicked out and forced into a futon, but he hoped Aomine would let him stay like this if he pretended to be asleep.

The weight on the bed shifted and he soon felt Aomine sneaking under the covers. The bed wasn't too wide, so they actually barely fit together side by side, but Kise was more than okay with that. What he didn't expect was to be pulled into Aominecchi's arms, as naturally as if they'd done it a million times before. He looked up, hoping to read what was going through Aomine's mind, and what he found was an embarrassed frown.

"You said it was either couch or cuddle and it's freezing outside, so shut the fuck up."

Kise smiled and buried his face in the crook of Aomine's neck, sliding one arm over Aomine's torso, his fingers settling an inch or two above his hipbone. He could hear Aomine's breathing very close to his ear, and feel it in the rise and fall of his chest and he knew for certain that every second he could spend like this, in the arms of the man he loved, was worth every hour, every day he would cry and hate himself for allowing this to happen. It would always be worth it.

 **To be continued**

Thirsty teenagers having awkward vanilla sex is a very important thing. Hello, this is me sharing my sin with y'all so we all go to hell together. You may also have noted I added a Porn with Feelings tag. Haha. I suck.

I really hope the slow and subtle changes in Aomine's feelings are noticeable and that they're making sense. That's the hardest aspect of this story tbh

It's 6:30 am and I haven't gone to sleep, be merciful with these boring author notes and leave me comments please


	7. As if it were real

"Oh, hello Aomine-kun, long time no see."

After Kise left that morning, he'd gone out to the convenience store to get something to eat and somehow ended taking a walk around the neighbourhood. And because such was his luck, he bumped into Tetsu who was walking his dog, and Kagami who was apparently trying to keep a healthy distance of five meters from the mutt.

"'Sup Tetsu! Bakagami still afraid of puppies?" he asked mockingly.

"OI!" Kagami yelled, without even trying to get closer to them.

"I'm afraid he is, but he's also kind enough to come with me to walk Nigou, so I appreciate it."

Aomine's chest clenched. He shouldn't have asked.

"Did something good happen recently, Aomine-kun?"

He blinked a couple of times in confusion.

"Not particularly, why?"

Tetsu cocked his head, his blue eyes big and inquisitive. "You just… you seem to be glowing. At the very least, you look very happy."

"O-o-oh, is that so?" well, he had just kind of mostly succeeded in having sex (albeit with some flubs here and there) a few hours ago, and it had felt pretty good too. He'd heard that sex was good for people's skin and that people often looked more dashing than usual after a good lay (in hindsight, he'd probably heard it from Kise). He wondered if that was true.

Tetsu shrugged. "Regardless, it is good to see you in a good mood. We should be going back soon, I have to help Kagami-kun with studying."

Daiki suddenly wondered if Kagami and Kuroko had done it already. Kise had made fun of him for being a virgin, but wasn't Tetsu one too? He had no actual way of asking but surely it was impossible… Tetsu wasn't really the kind… He remembered Kise's flushed face, the lust in his eyes " _Yes… Aominecchi… aaahhh…_ " and he felt the heat rushing south very fast. Before he could control his train of thought, he started wondering how Tetsu would look like during sex. The idea was mildly unsettling for some reason. He shook his head. He was overthinking everything too much these days.

"Don't waste your time, I doubt there's anything he can actually learn from anyone." He managed to say with a snicker.

"You're one to talk, asshole!" Kagami retorted, but Kuroko glared at both of them, effectively shutting them up.

"Have a nice day, Aomine-kun." He said simply as a goodbye before turning on his heels, pulling both the puppy and Kagami along.

* * *

Half a week before the new school year began, Aomine received a call from Kise.

" _Aominecchi! Takaocchi's bragging about his disgustingly cute dates with Midorimacchi, let's go to the movies!"_

He really should know by now that putting the phone so close to his ear was a terrible idea when he spoke with Kise. He groaned, going over the statement in his head three or four times trying to figure out whatever it meant, to no avail.

"Slow the fuck down, I've no idea of what you're talking about."

Kise whined. "Don't make it so difficult, spring vacations are almost over and I got tickets for the cinema, just say you'll come!"

Aomine could feel the beginning of a headache. "Alright, sure, whatever, but what's that got to do with Midorima?"

" _I just added Takaocchi on Facebook and all he does is post cute selfies of his cute dates with Midorimacchi and I got jealous_."

Aomine still had no clue of what on Earth Kise was talking about. "Why would anyone go on a date with Midorima? Who's this 'Takaocchi' anyway?" the name seemed to ring some bells, but he couldn't quite place his finger on why. Shuutoku's manager? Did Shuutoku have a female manager at all?

" _You're unbelievable, just how little brain capacity do you have?! You've seen Takaocchi about a dozen times already. I'm sure you even spoke to him when we were doing the rehabilitation of that streetball court_."

Ah, that finally got some gears turning, so he decided to ignore Kise's offhanded insult to his intelligence. But then this Takao person was… "Hold on, Midorima's dating that midget Point Guar—Midorima's dating?! A guy?!" It was already unbelievable enough that someone would put up with Midorima enough to actually date him, but Midorima being gay? That's one thing he hadn't seen coming.

Kise sighed. Aomine could almost hear him rolling his eyes. " _This is exactly why you'd still be a virgin if it weren't for me, you have absolutely no skills at understanding people. Midorimacchi's like the gayest person I know, I can't believe you're surprised. And he's been dating Takaocchi since before the Winter Cup, literally_ everyone _knows this. And they're disgustingly cute together too._ "

Aomine decided this was too much information to take in, and he was also annoyed for getting insulted so many times in a row, so the best thing to do was stop trying to figure out Midorima's unexpectedly successful love life. "Right, whatever, so how's that related to going to the movies?"

" _Like I said, Takaocchi was posting lots of pictures of their cute dates and I wanted to go on a date too."_

So they were now officially calling these 'dates'? Aomine didn't know how to feel about that. It was ridiculous to be worried about labels when everything about this relationship was so strange and "unofficial", but he couldn't stop thinking about it.

"Okay…"

" _I mean, of course I won't be putting pictures up on my Facebook, you don't have to worry about that."_ He sounded bitter, and Aomine felt his gut twisting painfully. "Unofficial" was a perfectly appropriate word for whatever they were doing. "Secret". Everyone could know about Midorima and his Point Guard, or Tetsu and Kagami. But not about them because it wasn't real. They weren't actually boyfriends and they weren't really dating, even if they called it like that. The thought was awfully unpleasant.

" _But anyway, I got free tickets for Saturday at Ikebukuro, so we should take the chance to enjoy the last of our vacations. Say yes_?"

Aomine sighed. "What movie is it?"

" _Dunno', some rom-com I think_."

"How'd you even get tickets for a movie without knowing what it is?"

" _A fan sent them to me. My agent brought me my fanmail yesterday and I found these_."

"I thought you were taking a break." He lied down on his bed and stared at the ceiling of his bedroom, trying to make that unpleasant feeling disappear.

" _Well yeah, but the official announcement won't be made until the magazine comes out in May_."

"Why'd your fans send you two movie tickets? That's so dumb."

He could imagine Kise shrugging disinterested. Kise was a good friend, fun to hang out with, even if he was annoying as fuck, but only with the people he deemed worthy of his time. He'd known the guy to act indifferently and borderline cruel with people he thought were beneath him.

" _The letter said 'please invite someone you like', so I guess I'm fulfilling their wishes, right_?"

For all that he loved getting praise and attention, Kise actually seemed to feel mostly contempt for the majority of his fans. He got happy getting letters from them, and would gladly go to handshake events and sign magazines with his photos when asked, but Aomine knew his business smile was almost completely fake, and he'd occasionally complain about his fans' ridiculous expectations or how obsessive they could get. In hindsight, it shouldn't have really come as a surprise to hear Kise didn't really like his modeling gigs as much as he pretended to.

"Idiot, aren't you expected to invite the person that sent them to you?"

" _Eeeeh? Why'd I do that, I don't even know who they are! What if they're a creep, I've had those before_!"

That was also true. Aomine remembered an incident at some point during their third year at Teikou in which Kise had been very irritable and jumpy, claiming he had a stalker that sent him tons and tons of letters and had even followed him home and left really creepy edited pictures from Kise's photoshoots in which she added herself and it was all just really weird and gross. He didn't remember how that incident had ended, they hadn't been speaking much to each other back then after all.

" _So should I send these to Aominecchi and ask to use them to go with whoever you like? Ah, but then you'd just invite Kurok- shit._ "

Before Aomine could react, Kise hung up. Aomine stared at his phone for a moment, trying to catch up with what had just happened. His heart ached. He hated that this had to be so complicated. When he and Kise were together, everything seemed to fall into place effortlessly. At least most of the time. But then there were moments like this in which he felt he was walking on pins and needles trying not to hurt his friend's feelings. Maybe this little slip was a sign that he should put an end to this before Kise got even more hurt.

He glided his thumb over Kise's name on the screen and pressed the call button.

" _A-aominecchi, I-I'm sorry, forget about it—th-the movie's probably gonna suck anyway…_ "

Maybe he should find a moment to end this, but he was definitely not going to break it off if Kise was the one that would end feeling guilty about it.

"Shut the fuck up, I'm going. My vacations've been really boring and going to the movies is really fucking expensive, I'm not gonna reject a free ticket, so you better show up on Saturday. I'll meet you outside of Sunshine City. I'll kick your ass if you don't come."

" _O-okay. Aominecchi's such a brute_."

He hated the way Kise's voice wavered.

* * *

Standing outside Sunshine City on Saturday, Kise wondered why he'd even come. _Because I don't want Aominecchi to kick my ass,_ is what he told himself, but the truth was he had felt a little bit happy when Aomine had called and demanded that he show up. Aominecchi may be a brute, but he was also painfully considerate with his feelings. What a joke.

He'd even dressed up a little. He was wearing a long-sleeved black crop top with a wide neckline and an unbuttoned red plaid shirt on top, with faded jean shorts that reached his upper thigh and skinny platform black boots up to his knee so he left a little of his lower thigh exposed. He had a white pork pie hat with a red lace to top it off.

It had only been a few minutes since he arrived when Aominecchi appeared around the corner.

"Stuuuupid Aominecchi, you get all savage about me showing up and then you're late." He complained, scrunching his nose in displeasure.

Aomine scowled. "Hah? I'm not late, idiot, you're early."

Kise knew that was true, but he still kind of wanted to throw a tantrum, but when he looked up he found Aominecchi's midnight eyes were too busy checking him out.

"Like what you see?" he teased, tilting his hips a little to the side for emphasis.

Aominecchi blushed and looked away. Kise could _see_ him swallowing hard.

"I-i-isn't it a little cold to be wearing that?"

"Not at all! It's already spring Aominecchi, the sakuras will be blossoming very soon. It's the perfect time to be wearing winter colors with a fresher look." He beamed, twirling around to show off how good the clothes looked on him. "It said so in _Nicola_ , so it must be true."

Aomine cleared his throat "A-a-anyway, let's get going, there's a heater inside." He stuttered, grabbing Kise's hand and turning around to pull him towards the movie theatre. Kise smiled a little, squeezing Aomine's fingers between his. If he couldn't be loved by Aominecchi, at least it was nice to feel desired. "Have you even figured out what we're watching?"

He rummaged in his pocket for the tickets. "I checked the title yesterday, but I forgot. But it's a chick flick, that's for sure."

Aomine groaned. "So you gonna' cry at the end too?"

Kise pouted. "Am not."

"That's what you said last time and I remember your ugly snotty face begging for tissues."

"That's different! That one had a sad ending! Hillary Swank's love was dead, only a heartless asshole like you wouldn't cry seeing that! This is a rom-com, it's not gonna' have a sad ending"

"Sure, whatever you say."

They showed their tickets at the entrance and made a short stop to buy popcorn because Aominecchi was starving, then went straight to their seats, near the top of the room, close to the corner. As soon as they were seated, Kise reached for Aomine's bag of popcorn and grabbed a fistful, then picked one with his free hand and popped it into his mouth.

"Oi! I asked you if you wanted and you said you didn't!" Aomine barked, pulling his popcorn away from Kise's reach.

"Eeeehh, but I just didn't want a full bag of those all for myself, it's too much! Is Aominecchi really gonna' eat all that?"

"Wanna' bet?"

"Awww, don't be so mean."

Kise pouted and put on his best pleading face, then stared straight into Aomine's eyes, whose brows were furrowed, clearly unamused by his scheme. After a two-minute long staring competition, Aomine finally looked away and put the popcorn on the armrest between their seats.

"I fucking hate you."

Kise laughed.

* * *

Forty-five minutes into the movie, Kise knew without a shadow of doubt that it was terrible. The story was passable, if unbelievably generic, and the acting wasn't bad but the script was absolutely embarrassing and the pacing was _slooooow_. He'd caught Aominecchi yawning a couple of times. Kise himself was enjoying it to some degree, he had a soft spot for terrible romantic movies, but he felt bad for Aomine who was obviously trying his best to pay attention to the movie and resist the temptation to take out his phone to entertain himself. He appreciated that effort. Maybe he should reward it.

"O-oi! The hell you doing?!" Aomine yelped when he felt the pressure of Kise's hand on his thigh.

Kise shushed him in between giggles. "Hm? Me? Nothing at all" He replied in a sing-song voice. "Lower your voice, Aominecchi, we're in a movie." He added as his fingers walked upwards on his leg, stopping a few millimeters shy of his crotch.

"S-s-stop that, someone could see!"

Someone sitting a few rows in the back sshhh'd.

"Isn't that part of the excitement?" Kise batted his eyelashes cutely, hoping Aomine would be able to see the gesture even in the darkness of the room.

Aomine blushed a little and looked away, but instead of allowing Kise to continue his new venture, he grabbed Kise's wrist with one hand and casually wrapped his other arm over Kise's shoulders. Kise looked up at him in confusion.

"You're enjoying the movie, aren't you? So watch it. You shouldn't waste movie tickets for something like that." He said, squeezing Kise's shoulder lightly for emphasis.

Kise felt as if his cheeks were on fire. A part of him felt embarrassed about being rejected –even though he'd _never_ failed to give Aominecchi a good time- but the other part of him was just trying to catch up to the fact that Aominecchi was hugging him and he loved how that felt. Sheepishly, he withdrew his naughty hand and let it rest on Aomine's lap. Then he scooted a little bit closer, even if that meant he wasn't so comfortable in his seat, just so he could lean his head on Aominecchi's shoulder. Aominecchi tensed up a little, but after a few exhales, the hand that was on Kise's shoulder crept up to his head and tangled in his golden locks. It was strange to feel so affected by something so small considering all the things they'd done already, but Aomine's arm around his back and the occasional movement of his fingers on his hair made his heart beat really, _really_ fast for reasons he couldn't explain.

He decided not to think about it and instead focus on the movie, that was apparently entering its mandatory dramatic climax in which the man did something stupid that caused a misunderstanding and made the woman not want to be with him anymore.

"Ugh, are they really gonna' fight over that?" Aominecchi groaned quietly.

Kise giggled and snuggled closer to Aominecchi. Truly, more than half romantic movies wouldn't exist if the protagonists actually communicated properly instead of letting the confusion and misunderstanding blow out of proportion, but where would the fun be? Kise liked this kind of contrived stories, and even when they were awfully predictable, the romantic moments made his heart skip a beat with longing.

Since this movie was a comedy, even the sad part where the main pair was separated was full of dumb funny moments, so he didn't even have time to feel sad about their bitter parting. In one scene, the guy's friends tried to cheer him up in the most comically horrible ways. Even Aominecchi chuckled a little when they tried to make a barbecue and ended setting fire to the garage. It was the most basic form of trashy comedy and yet Kise couldn't help laughing a little too.

However, after twenty minutes of the guy trying to prove his true love for the girl and failing spectacularly, Kise hoped the movie could move on to the third act already.

"C'mon, even I wouldn't think that's funny." Aominecchi groaned again as the guy fell face-first on a pile of horse poop, and Kise had to laugh, even if the joke wasn't funny, because Aominecchi had just accidentally taken a jab at his own intelligence. "Oi, don't tell me _you_ think that's funny."

Kise chuckled lightly and shook his head. "Of course not, I just… nevermind."

Finally, the resolution of the conflict came when the guy's friends conspired so that the girl would overhear him explain his feelings for her, without him noticing.

" _And when she smiles… damn, it's like the whole world comes to a halt_." He was saying, and the actor really sold the line because his eyes were shining with adoration. " _If I could see her smile just one more time…_ "

At that point, the girl gasped and showed herself and the two hugged and kissed while their friends cheered in the background. It was a heartwarming scene. Kise smiled. This was the reason he liked these movies, he could always count on a happy ending, beautiful declarations of love, intense kisses, and the promise of a happily ever after. When watching this kind of movie, he always imagined how his own love story would play out, what his favorite romantic scenarios would be, what kind of romantic words his future partner would say, what they'd do to conquer his heart. He always got excited thinking about that.

But at this point, in his current situation, he couldn't possibly imagine a happy ending to his love story. Not when the man he loved had already declared he didn't return his feelings, and the best he could offer was physical comfort and a little bit of pity. Suddenly, this warm embrace itched, and he wanted to pull away, but at the same time, he didn't want to lose it. He'd known from the start that this was going to be one of the biggest dangers of agreeing to this fake relationship: that it'd break his heart over and over again, but he wouldn't want it to end it because then he'd never feel Aomine's touch again.

On the screen, the guy was asking the girl to marry him and she jumped into his arms joyfully. Hot tears burned the corners of his eyes. There would be no happy ending for him. Once the thought popped in his mind, he couldn't push it away, and a hollow fear crept inside his chest and made his heart clench in pain. What if he could never stop loving Aomine? What if he never found someone he could love and that would love him back? What if no one ever fell in love with him? What would happen when Aomine got tired of him, of this phony relationship, when he fell in love with someone else and left him behind? He was going to end up all alone while all of his friends moved forward and found their happy endings and he would never have any part in them. He was suddenly so afraid it was hard to breathe, but he _needed_ to calm down and stop crying because otherwise Aomine would notice and he'd finally get fed up with him –he was way too high maintenance, even for a fake relationship- and toss him away. He chewed on his lip trying to hold back a sob, but it was to no avail.

"Oi didn't you promise you wouldn't cr—"

It wasn't too late yet. He could pretend that this was all him being oversensitive and crying about the main pairing's beautiful wedding scene and all would be fine. But before he could make up the excuse or even look up into Aomine's eyes, he felt chapped lips pressing against his wet cheek.

* * *

He was halfway through berating Kise for being a crybaby, but when he tilted his face to look at him, he couldn't finish the sentence. Kise wasn't looking at the screen, his eyes were downcast and hidden by his golden bangs. His canine was digging into his lower lip and his mouth quivered slightly. With the light of the screen, he could see the tear tracks going down his pale cheeks. His heart clenched. He wasn't sure of _how_ he could tell, but he just _knew_ that Kise wasn't crying about the movie. By extension, it was most likely his fault that he was crying, one way or another. His fingers, still tangled in Kise's soft hair, trembled. This was the second time Kise cried because of him in one of their dates.

It was clear to him now that Kise had gotten the short end of the stick in this deal of theirs. When he'd offered to do this, it had been partly to try and cover up his own heartbreak, and partly because he thought that at least Kise would be happy with it. But in the end, Kise was the one putting his feelings on the line in this fake unofficial relationship that seemed to have worked better to heal Aomine than to make Kise happy. Aomine was already more or less resigned to his unrequited feelings. Much as he hated to admit it, Tetsu was obviously happy with Kagami, and the last few times they'd met, he'd mostly been able to suppress his heartache and carry on with their friendship as usual. It still hurt seeing them together, but he was confident he could get over it with time. Meanwhile, Kise ended up crying or getting somehow upset every time they met. He couldn't keep doing this to Kise, he didn't deserve it. But at the same time, he was worried. If he ended this, wouldn't that also break Kise's heart? And moreover, would their friendship be able to recover after this? The thought of losing Kise scared him a lot more than he'd ever imagined it would. To think that he wouldn't be able to hear his laughter, or play basketball with him, or see him blush and pout, or admire his dazzling smile and hear that whiny "Aominecchi!" made his gut twist painfully.

He hated seeing Kise crying. He hated the way that quiet sob –quiet as if Kise didn't want him to notice that he was crying- pierced his heart. Before he realized what he was doing, he was kissing the tears away. They were warm against his lips, and the skin of Kise's cheek was soft and smooth. He had to crane his neck into an awkward position, but he didn't mind. He wasn't sure if this would do more harm than good in the long run, but he didn't want Kise feeling sad and lonely. If there was any amount of comfort he could provide, he'd do it.

"A-aominecchi?" Kise stuttered, his voice barely above a whisper.

Aomine kissed the corner of Kise's left eye and the tears pooling there. With his thumb, he wiped off the tears streaming down Kise's right cheek. Even if things were weird and painful between them, he wanted Kise to know he'd be right by his side, that he would take care of him and that he wanted to help him feel better, no matter what their relationship was.

He pulled back and cupped Kise's cheeks in his hands so he could stare straight into his golden eyes, that were shimmering with tears. He leaned forward to gently press his lips against Kise's. He felt Kise gasp against his mouth. Through half-lidded eyes he watched as Kise's expression softened and his eyelids shut close. His lips parted, allowing Aomine's tongue into his mouth, and he sighed into the kiss, their tongues gliding against each other slowly. Aomine felt his cheeks growing hot and his heart beating faster than usual. There was something about this kiss that felt different to all the ones they'd shared before. It felt... intimate. Like something they should be doing at home, not in a movie theatre, because it was too special. Perhaps this was what kissing a lover would feel like. If only all of their kisses could feel like this, so right and warm and loving, maybe he wouldn't end up making Kise cry so much.

If only he could fall in love with Kise.

* * *

Kise was feeling fireworks exploding where his heart was supposed to be; loud and hot and bright. He'd never been kissed like this. Any thoughts about where they were or what they were doing vanished from his mind and all he could think about was how magical this moment was. He never wanted it to end.

Reluctantly, they had to pull apart when the lights turned on. Not like the people in the back hadn't seen them kiss the air out of each other's lungs, but keeping appearances was important. After parting, they stared into each other's eyes, trying to catch their breath for a few seconds before Aomine stood up and looked away, blushing a little.

"L-let's go, before the exit gets too crowded." He mumbled, and just then Kise noticed Aomine's fingers around his wrist, lightly tugging to get him off his seat. He complied without a word, still a little befuddled by the kiss and everything that had happened in the last five minutes. He followed Aominecchi quietly until they were back on the street, surrounded by the noise of Ikebukuro. They stood there silently, trying to find words to go back and make everything not-awkward again, but they both seemed to be failing.

"Kyaa! Isn't that Kise-kun?!" a loud squeal came from a few meters away. Kise's eyes found a group of girls, one of which was pointing at him and bouncing on her tiptoes with excitement. The other girls looked at him and squealed too. He rolled his eyes. He was usually fine with humoring his fans from time to time, but he was definitely not going to let them ruin his date with Aominecchi.

"Aominecchi, run!" he whispered, and took off with Aomine still holding on to his wrist.

They managed to surf through the crowd with little difficulty, although they got yelled at by a police officer, but they ignored him and continued running. He could hear the girls calling his name in the distance, but it didn't seem like they were following them, so he made a sharp turn into a smaller street and slowed down to a jog until they found themselves in a deserted road.

"Seems like we lost'em." He panted softly, leaning against the wall. Aomine's fingers were still loosely wrapped around his wrist.

"Well, look at you, you're totally a prime celebrity now, crazy fans included." Aomine teased with a slight smirk on his lips.

Kise looked up at him, intending to send him an unamused glare, but when he met Aominecchi's dark eyes and saw that stupid playful twinkle in them, he couldn't stop himself from smiling. Aomine mirrored his smile, and before they knew it, they were laughing like idiots for no reason whatsoever. Aomine's hand slid from his wrist to entwine with his fingers, squeezing lightly. Kise could feel a small, joyful tear in the corner of his eye and he was glad he hadn't worn any eyeliner today because he'd cried so much it would've been ruined by now. He shut his eyes and wiped the tear away, still laughing.

As their laughter started to die out, he opened his eyes and found Aomine's face barely a breath away from his and he felt warmth blooming on his cheeks. Aomine was smiling softly –an unusual smile for him- and his free hand reached out to graze Kise's cheek. One heartbeat later they were kissing, and it wasn't really clear if it had been Aomine who had pulled him in or if Kise had leaned forward, nor did it seem to matter. Kise tilted his head a little to make for a better angle. It was the first time he truly felt that those three centimeters Aomine had on him were so wonderful and so annoying at the same time, and he bit Aomine's lower lip as a form of vengeance before deepening the kiss. He raised his free hand until he found the nape of Aomine's neck so he could pull him down closer and closer. His fingers were trembling, but so were Aomine's –he could feel them shaking lightly and making his skin tingle. As he grew light-headed he pulled back a little for air, but Aomine's mouth chased after him and didn't even give him the chance to breathe. And _god_ , he loved this. The dizziness, the heat, the fire in his blood, the clichéd butterflies fluttering in his stomach and how every breathe Aomine stole from his mouth made his knees go weak.

Then his phone rang, loud, piercing, and he had to pull back because he knew this particular ring meant "pick up immediately", although for the life of him he couldn't remember why he knew that.

"Y-e-ehs?" he stuttered breathily.

" _Ryouta, are you staying over at Tokyo or are you coming home for dinner?"_

"Wh—eeh?" it was taking his brain a lot longer than usual to start reconnecting its circuits, and basically nothing made sense for a couple of weird and awkward seconds. Then it finally did. "O-oh! M-mom!" he exclaimed, obviously not half as excited as his high-pitched voice would've made it seem.

His mother sighed. " _I just want to know if I should make dinner for you or not._ " She explained, sounding just a little exasperated.

"A-ah! Uhm… N-I mean y- ah!" he yelped when he felt Aomine press a light kiss to his jaw, and Kise could _feel_ him smirk wickedly against his skin. "St—I, yes Mom I'm coming for d-dinner." He squeaked as fast as he could as more kisses and some small bites where rained down his neck and even onto the part of his shoulder that was available through the wide collar of his top. "See you later, bye!" he whimpered in a rush and ended the call.

He turned to look at Aomine, his fine eyebrows creased in a frown ( _I swear, Aominecchi, if I get wrinkles for this…!_ ) "Aominecchi! You c—" but before he could utter any complaint, he was silenced with another kiss, short, quick and playful.

"C'mon, I'll walk you to the station." Aomine said with a grin, his cheeks dusted with a light reddish color.

Kise blinked slowly, taking in Aomine's sincerely joyful expression, his big, happy smile that was almost as bright as the streetlights. Aominecchi didn't smile like this very often. Kise's heart hiccupped.

 _God, I love him._

He squeezed Aomine's fingers lightly. "Okay, let's go." He chirped happily, letting the bubbly feeling growing in his chest take over his thought process.

"You sure you wanna' go back to that crowded street? What if we get chased down by a legion of your adoring fans?"

Kise frowned and jabbed him in the ribs. "You're just jealous you don't have any fans."

"Hah? I have plenty of them, thank you. I'll let you know I was featured in High School Basketball Monthly in December!"

"Oh, wow, Basketball Monthly, amazing, it's not like I've been there three times already." Kise teased, wiggling his eyebrows with satisfaction.

"Well yeah, of course they'd want your pretty face selling their magazine for them."

Kise blushed.

Aomine blushed.

Kise parted his lips to say something, but he was interrupted by Aomine. "A-anyway, that movie was awful."

Kise took the hint. "I guess, but they pulled off the ending pretty well."

"Not sure if it was worth sitting through the first hour only to get ten minutes of kind of decent shit."

"Aominecchi needs to appreciate life's simple pleasures. Like generic rom-coms with cute wedding scenes at the end. Also, Aominecchi likes the Transformers movies, so you don't get to say which movies are worth sitting through or not."

"Oi! Those movies are cool! My old man bought me a lot of those toys when I was a kid, so it was exciting to see them move!"

Kise laughed. "Well, if you're gonna complain, I won't invite you to the movies anymore." He commented with a mischievous glint in his golden eyes.

Aominecchi sighed in defeat. "Alright, alright, today was pretty fun, there, I said it."

Kise smiled with satisfaction "Isn't it always?" he asked innocently, batting his eyelashes.

"What is?"

"Doing stuff together like this. Or playing one-on-one or going to karaoke. I always have a lot of fun with Aominecchi."

Aomine blushed and looked away, scratching his cheek sheepishly. "Y-yeah, it's been… f-fun…" he admitted. "But that movie _was_ awful." He added, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

Kise laughed again. Something about today felt so right and so perfect he was almost afraid of ruining it. But at the same time, he felt so happy he couldn't really wallow in any worries. He loved Aominecchi's laughter, the way he looked away when he felt embarrassed, and the feeling of their fingers laced together. In hindsight, it felt as if they spent a considerable amount of time holding hands during their dates, something he would never complain about. He never wanted to reach the station.

Sadly, that was just not meant to be. Before long, they were standing near the ticket gates.

"Thanks for coming with me today, Aominecchi. And for letting me steal from your popcorn." Kise beamed with a wide cheeky grin.

"Jeez, next time buy your own, idiot." Aomine chastised him but he was grinning. "Thanks for inviting me, I guess. Even if the movie sucked."

Kise giggled. "I'll make it my personal project to educate you in the greatness of chick-flicks. You better get ready, next time you come to my place we're going through Kyo-nee's collection!" He threatened merrily. "Gotta go now, the buses to my place don't run after 10:45." He added, a little regretfully, his eyes immediately going down to their intertwined hands. He didn't want to let go.

There was a heartbeat of silence.

" _Stay."_

For a moment, he forgot how to breathe. His eyes darted upwards, not sure if he'd imagined what he'd just heard, and he found Aomine's face burning scarlet. His golden eyes widened, hoping he could repeat that just so he could be certain.

"W-what did…?"

Aominecchi flinched a little, then he blushed darker red and his dark blue eyes trailed off to the side. "Ah… just… D-don't stay up late, school's back on Monday."

A breathe of disappointment.

"Oh."

They finally let go of each other's hand.

"Haha, being so considerate of others' health is not really like you, Aominecchi."

"Oi what are you—"

"You too, don't stay up late looking at Mai-chan's photos or some other dirty thing."

"OI!"

"See you! I'll text you to see when we can hang out again!" he chanted, already taking a step back and waving his hand.

"Ah, yeah, sure."

Finally, Kise turned around and walked through the gates. He looked back one last time to wave goodbye and saw Aominecchi raising one hand and waving it just enough for it to be noticeable. With the grin still firmly placed on his lips, he skipped down the stairs to wait for the train. So what if the movie had sucked? Everything about today had been perfect. His face hurt a little from smiling and laughing so much, and he felt like nothing could actually erase the smile off his face, at least not for today. He remembered crying a few hours ago, but for the life of him, he couldn't remember the reason.

" _Stay…"_

He was sure by now that he hadn't imagined that. Aominecchi had asked him to stay, but he'd backtracked a moment later. His heart fluttered. Even if he didn't understand why he'd said it, that Aominecchi _wanted_ him to stay a little longer made him very happy. In fact, he was almost sure he would've accepted and stayed if Aominecchi had asked again. Kise had kind of hoped he would.

Absentmindedly, he brought two fingers to touch his lips, reminiscing the feeling of the two kisses they'd shared today. The tender and comforting kiss in the cinema. The sweet and playful kiss in the deserted street. They had felt so different to all the ones they'd exchanged until now. Intimate. Significant. His heart raced just thinking about them. They'd made him feel cherished. Kissing someone you love and who loves you back shouldn't feel too different to this, Kise thought. And all those little teasing kisses Aomine had rained on his jaw and his neck and even a little bit of his shoulder, how they'd made him shudder. And their laced fingers, and the lovely smile on Aomine's face and just how happy he'd felt walking side by side talking about mundane things. It'd almost been like…

 _It was almost as if we were real boyfriends._

And just like that, the smile was gone. He shut his eyes, trying to cool down the liquid burn that was starting to pool at the corners.

 _Don't do this to yourself. Don't do this to yourself._

He needed to focus on the happy things, the things that had made him feel fulfilled and excited, the moments that reminded him of why he loved Aomine so much, the memories of those kisses that were now ingrained in his heart, and above all, the knowledge that Aomine would smile his truest, sincerest smile for him. It was worth it, and he'd already decided it, to go through these moments of pain and guilt if he could also get these precious, happy memories. He touched his lips again. A knot formed in his throat

 _Would Aominecchi kiss Kurokocchi like that?_

* * *

Once Kise was out of view, Aomine turned around and headed outside of the station. He took a deep breath to calm the tingling of his nerves. It had been a slip, asking Kise to stay, but once he'd uttered the word, he'd realized he meant it. He hadn't wanted Kise to leave. He almost regretted getting cold feet at the last moment. But why? It was true that he enjoyed Kise's company. They did always seem to have fun when they went out together. But even with that in mind, it felt rather childish to ask your friend to stay and play a little longer. Especially because Kise wasn't just his friend… maybe. Even though the idea of 'friends with benefits' had been mentioned in passing when they first began this agreement, Aomine didn't feel like what they were doing really qualified as just that either. And when he remembered falling asleep with Kise's warm body in his arms, his heart raced a little. Maybe he just wanted Kise to spend the night because he wanted to relish in his warmth. He hated feeling cold at night after all.

A part of him was very much not convinced with that explanation, but that was all he had, and thinking too much about this was not going to help him anyway. He needed to stop agonizing over every moment they spent together and trying to decipher what their relationship was at this point. It didn't matter anyway. What mattered was that he could enjoy his time with Kise, even if it was watching a shitty movie, that he could hold him and hear him laugh, that Kise's eyes would sparkle when he called him 'pretty', that he looked so cute and funny when he got mad and said "Aominecchi, you brute!", that his skin vibrated pleasantly on every spot that had touched Kise: his hands that had laced their fingers together; the back of his neck, where Kise held him when they kissed; his shoulder where Kise had lean his head on during the movie; and his lips that had touched Kise's cheeks, his tears, his neck and jaw, that had found Kise's mouth and drowned it with kisses.

He couldn't stop thinking about those kisses. They had been so different to all their previous ones, and he couldn't place his finger on why. There was that sense of intimacy, yes, but there was also something else, something impossible to describe. He wanted more kisses like those. He wondered if Kise felt the same, if he had enjoyed them too. Before dating Kise, he hadn't actually kissed a lot of people in his life. There was that weird attempt at a girlfriend in his first year at Teikou, but that had been, well, weird. And he'd kissed Satsuki once when they were in fourth grade, but for the life of him he couldn't remember why they'd done it and they'd long agreed to never mention it again. Kise obviously had a lot more experience than him in that department –like with everything pertaining relationships-. Aomine couldn't say that any of their kisses so far hadn't made him feel good. But he couldn't help wondering if maybe he was actually a terrible kisser and that Kise hadn't enjoyed them at all. It was bad enough that he was making Kise cry without even meaning it, but if he couldn't at least make him feel good when they kissed, what was he even doing? If he wanted to continue with this, the least he could do was do a better job at making their time together as enjoyable for Kise as it was for him. He didn't want to kiss tears off Kise's cheeks again, especially if _he_ was the cause of those tears.

* * *

Kise rubbed his eyes for the millionth time, hoping they wouldn't look too red and that his Mom wouldn't notice he'd been crying through half of the train ride. She'd never buy it if he said he'd been crying about the movie, she was too perceptive.

"I'm home." He called quietly, hoping to go unnoticed.

"Welcome back. I left your dinner in the microwave!" his mom called from the living room. He could hear the distinctive voices of the characters in the TV show his mom and older sister liked. Perfect chance to slip away without drawing too much attention towards himself.

"Thanks, Mom, I'll eat it in my room!" he announced, but he didn't stop to get a reply. He dashed by the kitchen and didn't bother microwaving his food, instead just grabbed the plate and chopsticks and rushed upstairs to lock himself inside his bedroom.

He couldn't carry on like this, it wouldn't be good for his state of mind. Even if he told himself to focus on the good things, he couldn't shake off the pain of his unrequited feelings and the fear that this would end with him losing Aomine's friendship for good. But he couldn't let go either. And there was no one he could ask for advice. He didn't want to admit to his Mom or his sisters that he was caught up in this. Normally, the people he'd ask for advice would be Kuroko or Momocchi, but he couldn't tell them the truth when both of them were so close to Aominecchi.

An idea rose to his mind suddenly. He picked up his phone and went through his extensive contact list. He hesitated a little before clicking on one of the latest additions to the list. He typed quickly and clicked the "send" button before he could have second thoughts about it.

" _I need help"_

 **To be continued**

Lots of fluff and kissing this chapter. I don't know why, but I like writing about these two kissing. I also really enjoy the scenes where they're just teasing each other, I love showing that side of their relationship. At this point it's pretty obvious that Aomine's feelings have already changed quite a bit, I wonder if you guys have felt the transition too or if you don't think it's too drastic. I wanted to add little scenes here and there of them texting, but I couldn't think of something they would text about orz. I also kind of realize that Kise panicking about never finding someone to love may seem overly dramatic, but it's a legit fear I can relate to, regardless of your age.

I don't know if the movie they went to watch actually exists, I just made up the plot as I went, but who knows. Just imagine Adam Sandler level of trashy comedy. But I wonder if someone will guess the Hilary Swank movie I mentioned. _Nicola_ is the highest-selling fashion Japanese magazine for teenagers. Kise is all about being up to date with fashion trends after all. Also, as expected, I had to shove some gratuitous Midotaka in your faces, I couldn't help myself. I'm just convinced Takao is Kise's brother from another mother and that they'd be super bffs once they got to know each other. Also, I hope we can all agree that Midorima is super fucking gay, because it's the truth.

I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and I apologize for the delay. Thanks everyone who's reading, there's like three or four more chapters left, I'll appreciate your patience if you're willing to follow along for a while longer. Please let me know your thoughts on this chapter, it means a lot to me to hear your opinions.


	8. Not all rom-coms are bad: Part I

" _Remind me again, what was this whole –cchi thing about?"_

Kise frowned, his eyes glued to the ceiling of his bedroom. "It's about respect, Takaocchi, respect! I don't use it for just anyone, you should feel flattered." He whined, frustrated. Why did no one understand this? "You're good enough to give Kurokocchi trouble _and_ you can also stand Midorimacchi, that's worthy of some respect in my opinion"

" _Oi, what are you trying to say about Shin-chan?"_

Kise smiled a little. Midorima and Takao had a really adorable relationship, and he felt a little jealous of their happiness.

"Are you gonna' help me or not?"

Takao giggled. " _Sorry, sorry, of course I'll help, although if you don't mind me asking, why me?"_

Kise sighed and pressed the phone a bit closer to his ear. "I just… I didn't know who else to ask. I can't ask Kurokocchi or Momocchi for… well, you'll understand once I tell you, and I doubt Midorimacchi can give any sort of love advice that he didn't get from Oha-Asa."

He could hear Tako humming on the other end of the line. " _I guess that's true…"_

"I'm sorry, I know it's weird since we just met recently—"

" _Nah, it's okay! A friend of Shin-chan's a friend of mine after all! I'm sure Shin-chan would want to help out too, but he'd say something like 'I'm not really doing it for you, I just can't stand this situation anymore-nodayo'. And you did give me that respect –cchi thingy after all!"_

Kise laughed a little. Midorimacchi had fallen in love with a really nice person.

" _Alright then, I'm listening."_

* * *

Aomine shut down his browser window with a sigh. All of these sites gave similar advice and none seemed to really fit his current conundrum. Apparently, "my friend's in love with me, and I like him, but not in that way, and we're kind of fake dating but I don't want to hurt him or lose his friendship" wasn't a very common problem, even on dumb internet forums. Maybe he should give this up and ask Satsuki. She had a sharp mind and was really good at reading people. If there was anyone that could help him in this situation, it was her.

Except that he couldn't ask her. If he did, she'd know and a part of him was ashamed of what he was doing. He remembered a conversation they'd had a few months ago, when she'd looked at him with worry in her eyes and said:

" _Just be nice to Kii-chan, okay?"_

In hindsight, she probably knew already. But he still couldn't face her about this. He _was_ trying to be nice and make Kise happy, but he wasn't sure if he'd be able to explain himself if Satsuki pressed him for a clear decision.

* * *

"You're late, Aomine! Ten penalty laps around the gym!" Wakamatsu hollered at him the moment he stepped inside the court.

He groaned, but didn't even bother replying and decided to get started quickly. It wasn't his fault that everyone else was a freak that could wake up early during Golden Week. Running laps around school was definitely _not_ how he'd envisioned he'd spend his vacation.

"If you're late to morning practice again, you're not coming with us to the exhibition match." The captain threatened once he was done with his penalty.

Aomine cocked an eyebrow. "Exhibition match? The hell's that about?"

Wakamatsu glared at him. "Well, if you'd come early, you would know already." He admnonished. "We're going to Kaijou for a practice match on Saturday. Their coach got in touch with us, apparently they have a tradition of making a sports clubs exhibition at the end of Golden Week and they invited us to participate."

Aomine smiled. He'd never heard of this tradition, but any excuse to play against Kise was a good one in his book. When they were on the court, he didn't have to think about the complicated stuff, all he had to do was play his best and enjoy himself, and he knew for certain that it was the same for Kise. He was already vibrating with anticipation.

"Of course, if you're scared of losing against Kise, you're welcome to come late tomorrow, then we won't take you to the game and you can say your captain was a tyrant to save face." Wakamatsu continued with a taunting smirk.

"No need for the provocation, senpai, I'm going to that game and that's final." He countered with a wide, confident smirk. His fingers were tingling. He wanted to grab a ball and start playing _now_. He wanted Saturday to come sooner.

* * *

"Seems we'll be playing against you on Saturday." He typed quickly.

The reply came as fast as he'd gotten used to receiving from Kise.

" _I hope Aominecchi's ready to get his ass kicked again."_

"That was a one-time thing, not gonna happen again."

" _Bring your wallet, cos the loser's buying me food after the game!"_

He couldn't resist the pull of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He glanced at the date impatiently. Only three more days to go.

* * *

Wakamatsu had gotten so used to the lazy drawl of Aomine's footsteps, he thought it was Sakurai who was jogging in his general direction until he turned around to find their usually delayed ace, his expression hard with determination. He glanced at his watch: 9:45. Unbelievable.

"So even Aomine can be early when he tries…" he mused to himself, a little upset. When he'd thrown that threat around, he hadn't expected Aomine to actually act on it. And yet, it was Saturday and Aomine had been on time for practice throughout the whole week. Aomine. On time. What a time to be alive.

"Told you I was coming for that match." Aomine said with a satisfied smirk.

"Shut up and get on the bus."

* * *

"Dai-chan?"

Aomine turned to look at Satsuki, who was quietly reviewing some of her data.

"'Sup? Figured out how to break Kise's Perfect Copy yet?"

She shook her head. "Of course not, it's a very tricky technique. I need to see more of it to find a good method. Kii-chan is already difficult to predict because his copying skills are very versatile, but this is on a whole new league."

"I know right? This game's gonna be fun! I'm definitely not letting him win, can't have him get too cocky after last time."

"Last time?" she echoed, blinking up at him. Something in her eyes made him feel uneasy.

Aomine bit his tongue. He'd messed up. "Uh, just ah… we ran into each other some time ago and we played a little one-on-one, that's it." A half-truth should suffice, he decided.

"You mean that time back in March when Kii-chan stayed over at your place." She responded quietly, her eyes a little cold. It wasn't a question. She knew.

His blood froze in his veins. "Wh—"

"Dai-chan, I've known you for more than ten years, _and_ I live right next door. Do you really think…" she interrupted herself when the bus came to a halt and coach Harasawa announced they had reached their destination. She sighed and got up from her seat. "I just… I want you to really think about what you're doing."

"I'm n—"

"Please don't make Kii-chan cry."

"But—"

He couldn't even finish that sentence before she turned her back on him and got off the bus.

It took Aomine a moment to recover and gather his stuff. He chewed on the inside of his cheek. He _was_ thinking about it. About his relationship with Kise and what he should do about it. He'd been thinking about it for months now. In fact he couldn't remember the last time he thought so much about anything else. About how he didn't want to make Kise cry anymore. About how he wanted to make Kise happy. And about a whole lot of other things he couldn't understand. If he had any idea of how to solve this, he would've done that a long time ago.

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud squeal.

"Momocchi! Aominecchi!"

He looked up to find Kise running at them with a wide, bright smile on his face –the kind of smile that looked _just right_ on him-, waving enthusiastically.

"Kii-chan!" Satsuki squealed in delight, running to meet him, no traces of anger left on her face. "I'm so glad to see you! It's been a while! How've you been?!"

"Great! We've been training super hard so we won't be holding back even if it's not an official match!" Kise replied with a playful wink.

"That's my line." Aomine interjected with a smug smirk. "You better be ready, I'll show you what a real ass-kick feels like."

Satsuki threw a sideways glance at him. "Sorry Kii-chan, I have to get everything ready, let's catch up after the game."

"Sure."

She smiled at Kise and then jogged past him to join coach Harasawa and captain Wakamatsu, who were already greeting Kaijou's coach.

Kise walked closer to him, a questioning look on his golden eyes. "Did something happen with Momocchi?"

Aomine wanted to bang his head on a table. He was getting tired of people who were too perceptive.

"Kinda." He said flatly, hoping Kise would catch on and stop asking.

Kise frowned. "You better not be mean to Momocchi or I'll beat the crap out of you."

He'd really appreciate it if people would stop telling him not to be mean with the people he cared about.

* * *

"I'm just warning you, Aominecchi, I won't let you say you weren't playing me seriously when you lose." Kise teased with a smirk. They were facing each other now on the court, stretching in preparation for the game.

"Alright, but you better not go home crying after I kick your ass to the moon and back." Aomine replied with a cocky grin. "I hope you won't conveniently forget our bet after I beat you."

"I won't, 'cos I'll have you buy me dinner at the nicest place around when we're done."

"Everyone get in their positions, we're getting started!" Kaijou's coach announced.

Aomine moved towards the center of the court, where Harasawa was holding the ball for the tip-off. He was surprised when he didn't find Kise across him. He eyed Kaijou's captain, a guy he remembered mostly for being really loud and speaking in an incomprehensible way. He was also a lot shorter than him. Was Kaijou giving up on the tip-off in favor of a different strategy? He glanced briefly at Kise, who sent him a playful wink. Aomine felt his cheeks warm up a little, so he looked away and focused on the ball. Well, whatever it was, it was good for him. He didn't know if Kise planned on using his Perfect Copy today, but in case he did, Aomine planned on getting as big a lead as possible.

The buzz for the start of the game rang and Harasawa threw the ball into the air. Before Aomine could get his feet off the ground, he heard a loud "LEBOUND!" screech, and the next moment, Kaijou's captain was already in the air and slapping the ball away from him… and straight into Kise's hands. Someone in the distance was yelling "That wasn't a rebound, you idiot!". Aomine's eyes widened as he watched Kise bend his knees in a stance that was awfully familiar and shoot the ball across the court and straight down the net. His golden eyes were gleaming and his lips were curled in a devious smirk.

 _You've got to be fucking kidding me._

"Bad Aominecchi, you totally underestimated me when I said I'd be serious. Next time, try focusing on the ball instead of getting distracted with my beauty." Kise chuckled in a low voice as he jogged past him to the other side of the court, where the game was about to resume after that long three-point shot.

Aomine clicked his tongue in annoyance. He turned around and caught Wakamatsu dribbling in his direction, with one of Kaijou's third years in his tail. He jogged to get closer to the net and called for a pass. The moment the ball reached his hands, Kise was already blocking him. He frowned. He wasn't using Perfect Copy now, which meant that first shot had been just a show-off, the bastard. He breathed, trying to predict Kise's moves to find an opening. He dribbled one, two, three times, then spun on his heels, to which Kise easily caught up. Aomine then feinted to make a regular shot, but then quickly sliced to the left, throwing the ball towards the net with just one hand before Kise could react. The sound it made as it went down was very satisfying.

"If I can do this while being "distracted by your beauty", imagine what I'll be able to do once I concentrate for real." He taunted, and enjoyed the soft pink glow that rose to Kise's pale cheeks.

"You are _so_ buying me dinner, stupid Aominecchi!"

* * *

"C'mon, Captain, we can do overtime! Just five more minutes to settle it!"

"Senpai, we can't let it end like this, what about our pride?! I'll get him in five minutes, please!"

Wakamatsu glared at Aomine. Hayakawa glared at Kise.

"No." was the simple answer, uttered by both of them simultaneously.

"Aw, come _on_!"

"Senpai!"

"We have to return the bus to the school by 6 and that's final. Go get changed, Aomine."

"Our time for the exhibition is over, the girls' team will be using the court now, Kise."

"But how are we gonna' decide who pays for dinner like this!" The two underclassmen protested, pointing at the score: 75-75. A tie.

"The hell if I care! Hurry up, it's getting late!" Wakamatsu hollered, pointing at the changing lockers.

* * *

"On second thought, Aominecchi can't stay for dinner anyway, right? You've to go back to school." Kise commented nonchalantly as he pulled his shirt over his head. He felt a little disappointed, both by the tie, and because he'd been looking forward to going out with Aominecchi after their game.

"Uhm… I guess technically I should go back since I came with the school, but it's also Golden Week, so technically this is supposed to be school-free time?"

Kise's ears perked. "So you think you could stay?" He stepped into a pair of skinny jeans that he'd bought recently because they made his butt look amazing.

"Why, you gonna' buy me dinner?"

Kise frowned. Aominecchi couldn't possibly be so dense. "Why would I? I didn't lose!"

"You would've if we'd gone to overtime."

"You wish!"

"Just accept it, the flow of the game was on our side and you'd run out of Perfect Copy time."

"Aominecchi's Zone ran out too, you were a lot more tired than me. And Apologetic-mushroom-kun's threes were getting sloppy too."

"Were you even playing the same match? Your rebound-crazy captain was about to collapse!"

Kise huffed. "Fine, then! No dinner, if you're gonna' be like that." He turned away to tie his shoelaces. Why'd he even like to hang out with Aominecchi anyway? He wished he knew. When he looked up, he found Aomine grinning down at him.

"Shut up, we'll split."

Kise's heart skipped a beat. "Eh?" He felt his cheeks heating up a little. "But the school—"

"I'll get an earful from coach, but I'm sure he'll just make me call my folks to let them know. I'll go ahead and tell him, but hurry up, I'm starving."

He smiled a little, remembering what Takao had told him when he'd asked for advice.

" _I mean, it's a complicated situation, and to be honest my first advice would be something you won't like…"_

"A-aominecchi, wait!"

"Huh?"

" _But if you want to see if it can work, there's something you can try, although it could end up hurting you more."_

"Uhm… do you have any plans for tonight? After dinner, I mean." His fingers trembled slightly.

"I've got no place to be, if that's what you're asking."

" _And what… what would that be?"_

"I was just thinking… well every year for Golden Week, Mom and my sisters go out on their "girls-only vacation" thing…"

" _You should try to seduce him."_

"And Dad's up in Hokkaido visiting some relatives, so it's just me at home…" he turned to look upwards, blinking slowly and staring at Aomine's eyes. "I was wondering… maybe you could come and… stay over?" he batted his eyelashes subtly.

A few silent seconds ticked away. Aomine's cheeks became crimson as understanding dawned on him. He gasped and chewed on the inside of his cheek.

"Alright." He replied simply. "I-I'm gonna go tell coach about it." He paused. "I-I mean, about not going back with the rest of the team, o-o-obviously."

Kise nodded and watched him leave the lockers. He looked down at his trembling fingers.

" _Seduce him? What'd be the point of seducing him after we've already done this and that?"_ He'd thought Takaocchi wasn't making any sense.

" _No, no, you misunderstand. The only way that you're not gonna get hurt doing this is if Aomine falls in love with you, right? Then your unrequited crush would become mutual and all would be well."_

Kise's heartbeat had accelerated. Aominecchi, falling in love with him? Was that even possible? He'd given up on that a really long time ago. In what realm was it plausible that a person who fell in love with Kuroko could fall in love with Kise? They were too different. Kise had none of the qualities that Aomine liked in a partner: selflessness, devoted kindness, straightforward sincerity, -all of Kurokocchi's best assets- and he certainly didn't have big boobs either.

" _That's impossible_." He'd said simply, feeling crestfallen. The thought had arisen a sweet sliver of hope in his heart, but he'd shot it down within seconds, and it hurt.

" _Well, it's definitely gonna be impossible if you don't try_. _If I knew Shin-chan liked someone else, I'd do everything I could to steal him. Unless he was really happy with that other person, obviously, but I'm pretty confident in my ability to make Shin-chan the happiest."_

Kise could almost picture Takao's sheepish smile. He couldn't help feeling a little happy every time he realized how cute Takaocchi and Midorimacchi were together. But that was because they'd been lucky enough to fall in love with each other, to have their feelings reciprocated.

" _But if he hasn't fallen in love with me after all these years, why would he now? I… I don't want him to just… settle with me because Kurokocchi's not available_." Even though that's exactly what we're doing right now, he'd thought to add, but didn't. He didn't need a lecture on hypocrisy.

" _That's precisely why you need to make an effort. Show him your best side, all of your good qualities! You guys have a good time together, right? You said your dates were always fun, and the sex is good too, isn't it? I don't know you guys as much, but Aomine strikes me as a guy that's dense like a brickwall_."

Kise had almost chuckled. _Nailed it._

" _If you don't make him see it, he'll never realize how good your chemistry is. Prove to him that you could make each other happy, that you're great together. Make him want to be by your side. I think that's your best shot."_

His heart had started beating really fast. Best shot. There was a tiny, tiny chance that he could make it work. That Aominecchi could genuinely fall in love with him. Takao was right. They had a good time together, they would definitely be able to make each other happy. If Aominecchi could see that…

" _Of course, there's no guarantee it'll work, but I think it's worth trying, at least for a little bit. You can make some advances and see how he takes it, and if it looks like there's a chance, you can go for it. He doesn't have to be head over heels for you overnight, but you know him well, I'm sure you'll notice if he starts catching up with your feelings. And if he doesn't, you can go for the other option and spare yourself more unnecessary pain."_

Kise had thought about it. He'd thought about Aominecchi whispering his name and staring at him with love in his eyes, looking at him the way he looked at Kurokocchi. It was too good to be possible. How does one even make someone else fall in love with you?

" _How should I do that?"_

Takao had huffed lightly. " _Are you telling me the supermodel Kise Ryouta needs lil' ole' me to give him lessons on seduction?"_

Kise laughed. " _Touché_."

* * *

"Dai-chan!" Satsuki called him with a concerned look on her face. "What's this about not coming back with us?"

Aomine cocked his head. Was she not angry at him anymore? It was hard to tell. "I made a bet with this guy that the loser had to buy the winner's dinner." He explained, pointing at Kise.

"But it was a tie." She protested, scowling at him. She was obviously not over her anger from earlier.

"Wanna' come,Momocchi? Aominecchi's buying!" Kise offered with a playful giggle.

"Oi! We agreed to split! Split!"

There was a hint of sadness in Satsuki's eyes, her full lips curled downwards. "No, thank you Kii-chan, I promised my mom I'd help her choose a good birthday present for my dad. Maybe next time?"

"Awww, that's a shame. Aominecchi'll have to buy us dinner some other time."

Aomine wanted to protest, but he didn't, and instead just watched her nod with a small smile. "I'll see you tomorrow, Dai-chan. Don't be mean to Kii-chan." She said quietly.

"You heard her, you can't be mean to me or I'll tell on you." Kise said with a grin. "Take care, Momocchi!" he added, waving goodbye.

Wakamatsu called for her to hurry up and she turned around, waving at them as she hopped back on the bus. Aomine sighed with relief.

"Why'd you ask her to come with us?" he spat through gritted teeth.

"Because we're friends, obviously! Just because I do ecchi stuff with you doesn't mean I don't want to spend more time with my other friends too." Kise replied with a huff. "I know Aominecchi thinks the whole world spins around him, but it's about time you realize that's not the case." He added as they walked outside the gym after Kise was done saying goodbye to his teammates.

Aomine blushed crimson. "I-I don't think the world spins around me!" he quipped. What he didn't say is that he realized Kise was right. He was so caught up in their messy relationship that he had almost forgotten Kise was his friend, and Satsuki's and Tetsu's. He'd have to do good on Kise's promise and set up some sort of meeting for all of them to enjoy themselves and have a good time.

"Anyway, got any idea of where we're gonna eat?"

Kise smiled confidently. "There's a _Nakau_ a few blocks from my place, we can buy some on the way and eat at home while I enlighten you in the wonders of rom-coms."

Aomine groaned. In the month that had passed since their last date, he'd also forgotten about Kise's new determination to get him to like chick flicks. He briefly wondered if he wasn't going to regret staying over, but as he thought about it, he remembered how he always ended having fun with Kise, even when they were doing something stupid like karaoke or watching a horrible romantic movie. Maybe he should have a little faith on Kise's film education programme.

"Sounds like a plan."

He smiled to himself when he noticed Kise's eyes widen and his face brighten with excitement. He'd obviously expected Aomine to argue or protest about his movie night initiative. It made Aomine feel very pleased with himself to know he could still take Kise by surprise. That it also happened to make Kise smile was a nice bonus.

* * *

Aomine's stomach grumbled. He'd eaten a generous breakfast –he hadn't wanted to be short of energy when he faced Kise-, but that had been hours ago. The smell of meat that filled his nostrils as soon as they stepped into the restaurant didn't help at all.

"So how're we gonna do this?" he asked impatiently, his eyes already fixed on the ticket machine and the option he wanted.

Kise looked up from the machine and blinked quickly. "I know you're uncivilized, Aominecchi, but you _must_ know how to use one of these." He said amusedly, pointing at the machine.

Aomine smacked him across the head lightly, and smiled with satisfaction at the little yelp he received. "I meant the payment. How 'bout I pay for yours and you pay for mine?"

"Eeeeh? But Aominecchi eats like a beast, I'll end up spending thrice as much!" Kise protested, rubbing the back of his head.

Aomine's frown deepened. Was Kise hell-bent on making fun of him as much as he could today?

"I'm kidding, kidding! Gee, don't make that scary face Aominecchi; how many times must I tell you. You're too young to ruin your handsome face with wrinkles." Kise added quickly, an easy smile on his lips as his index finger pressed his brow, allegedly to ease the infamous wrinkles. "Let's do that, then I can say Aominecchi bought me dinner." He added playfully. "Ok, what do you want?" he asked, pulling out his wallet

" _Katsudon_ , big serving." Was his automatic reply. He'd been daydreaming about it all the way here. His stomach growled loudly when he heard the noise of ticket being printed.

"I'll have _oyakodon_ , regular size." Kise said, moving away from the machine so Aomine could place the order. "Can you go ahead and get the food? I really need to go to the bathroom." He mentioned, handing him the katsudon ticket and bolting away before he could reply.

Aomine shrugged and picked up Kise's meal ticket before heading for the counter. He handed the tickets to the attendant and licked his lips in anticipation. He almost wanted to tell Kise they should eat already and go home afterwards. Besides, their food would get cold on the way to Kise's house.

His thoughts were interrupted by the familiar sound of Kise's melodic laughter. He glanced towards the bathroom doors and saw Kise walking out, following a shorter guy with strong arms, spiky hair and thick eyebrows. Aomine couldn't remember the guy's name, but he recognized him as Kaijou's former captain, the guy that Kise had passed the ball to in that final play of last year's Inter High. A guy Kise trusted.

"Aominecchi!" Kise called, waving at him and lightly pushing his senpai towards the counter. "Look, I ran into Kasamatsu-senpai in the bathroom, isn't it a small world?" he explained excitedly, standing behind Kasamatsu.

"Uh… yeah, hi." Aomine replied awkwardly, his eyes fixed on the way Kise's fingers squeezed Kasamatsu's shoulder. His stomach stopped grumbling and started getting tied in a tight, tight knot.

"Hi… I'm Kasamatsu." the guy replied, obviously as unexcited about this encounter as Aomine was. "Uh…" he looked around awkwardly, as if looking for someone. "Are you two having dinner here?"

Kise raised an eyebrow and leaned slightly forward, his chest grazing the back of Kasamatsu's arm. Aomine bit his lip. "No, we're taking it to my place to watch movies." He replied with a bright smile. The knot in Aomine's stomach loosened a little. "Why, are you having a date?" he inquired, his chin now resting on top of his fingers, on Kasamatsu's shoulder. "We could totally stay and I could tell the lucky lady about senpai's best qualities." Kise offered mischievously. Obviously he had no intention of bringing up anyone's best qualities –except, perhaps his own-.

Aomine honestly didn't care about that, he just wanted Kise to stop. touching. that guy so much. Kise had always been a really touchy-feely guy, he was practically a hugging monster and never had any reservations in throwing himself at people –from Tetsu and Satsuki to Akashi and Midorima. Only the people he _trusted_ and _liked,_ though. And Kise liked his Kaijou teammates quite a lot, a significant amount of his texts were funny stories about the team. Kise obviously trusted Kasamatsu too, since he'd seemed to pass to him the most among his other teammates during the Winter Cup. It was expected that he'd be clingy with him as well. And yet, Aomine couldn't shake off the feeling of discomfort growing in his gut.

 _It's not like he_ _ **likes**_ _that guy, the one he likes is me_. He told himself, trying to put his mind at ease. As he finished the thought, though, he almost choked on his own spit. Why would that make him feel better? His head was starting to hurt and he wished the food would come soon so they could leave quickly. Whether the food got cold or not didn't seem that important anymore.

"You're too close, idiot!" Kasamatsu protested, pushing Kise away towards the counter. "And no, I don't need you to vouch for me, thank you very much." He added.

Kise pouted unhappily. "Aww, how mean, senpai, you should be more grateful that a supermodel wants to be your wingman." He said with a smirk. "And you'd need that a lot if _Nakau_ is the best you can do for a date." He added, winking maliciously.

Kasamatsu smacked Kise. "Shut the fuck up." He spat, looking away as a light red tint grew on his cheeks.

Without thinking, Aomine stepped forward to stand behind Kise. "Food's here, we should get going." He announced, holding the plastic bag where Kise could see it.

"But Aominecchi! Don't you want to crash senpai's date?" he screeched, batting his long eyelashes at him, and Aomine had to bite his lip. No wonder Kise always seemed to get away with stuff no one else would.

"No, and acting cute won't change my mind about it."

Kasamatsu nodded in his direction and mouthed a 'thanks'. Aomine hadn't really done it for that guy's sake, but he wasn't gonna' complain about getting a win-win outcome.

"Move it, I'm starving." He emphasized, and when he looked down to nudge Kise towards the exit, he found his hand casually splayed on Kise's hip. When had he put it there? He suddenly felt like his skin was on fire, and he retracted his hand as fast as he could. "S-s-see ya." He muttered, waving at Kasamatsu with the hand that wasn't literally burning, before starting towards the door, with Kise following close behind. As soon as they exited, he thought he saw a familiar sly smirk walking past them, into the restaurant and towards Kasamatsu, and he could've sworn he'd heard that annoying accent before, but he really just wanted to leave this whole incident behind, so he didn't pay it any mind.

"Aominecchi's so rude, it would've been so fun." Kise complained. "I'm gonna put you through the worst movies in Kyo-nee's collection, you'll see."

Aomine sighed. "I honestly prefer that." He uttered, mostly to himself. If Kise wanted to be obnoxiously physical with his senpai he was free to do it, Aomine just didn't want to be there to see it because it made him irrationally, absurdly angry, and it made him think strange things. But Kise didn't need to know that.

* * *

Kise was humming pleasantly as he climbed up the stairs with a pile of DVD cases. Aominecchi had already made himself comfortable in his bedroom and had probably started ploughing through his food, he truly seemed to be starving. They'd set up a couple of big pillows and blankets in front of the TV because Kise would not have a mess of food on his bed under any circumstance.

Aomine frowned when he saw the DVDs in Kise's hands. "You weren't joking when you said your sis had a collection." He observed, unamused.

"What, this? I just picked a handful of things, there's dozens downstairs."

Aomine groaned. "Just how many of these do you want to force me to watch?"

Kise placed his hands on his hips. "A lot of them, obviously. I told you this would be an intensive education programme." In reality, he didn't expect them to make it through more than two, maybe three movies, before they decided to make actual good use of a their no-parents-home situation. "Since I'm a graceful teacher, I'll let you choose the first thing we'll watch." He added with a grin, displaying the different covers in front of Aomine's eyes.

"Star Wars." Aomine replied automatically, not even looking at them.

Kise squeaked indignantly. "You haven't even watched the previous movies!"

"Yeah, but it's really popular right now and the chick's really hot."

Kise wanted to punch his frustratingly handsome face. "Firstly, you're an idiot, and secondly, Star Wars isn't a rom-com. You agreed to come, so you have to follow the rules!"

Aomine shrugged. "It was worth the shot." He looked down at the DVD cases, but he was obviously not seeing anything remotely appealing. "Eh… this one." He said finally, pointing at one of them, probably at random.

"Oh! Great choice! This one's really cute!" Kise informed him with a smile, quickly placing the disk in the DVD before plopping next to him on the cushions. "Pass me my dinner, I'm getting really hungry too."

Aomine passed him his plastic bowl and a pair of wooden chopsticks. It wasn't right-out-of-the-pot warm anymore, but there was a light vapor coming from the food and it smelled delicious. He licked his lips, not paying attention to the opening credits on the screen.

"Ittadakimasu!" he chanted before digging in and picking up a piece of chicken and rice. Before he could put it in his mouth, he heard Aomine's low voice drawling "Ittadakimasu" too, and his attention was driven away from his food to look at Aomine, who was just starting to eat. His eyebrows rose with surprise. "I thought Aominecchi would've swallowed all his katsudon without even chewing it while I was downstairs picking the movies." He observed.

"I was waiting for you, duh." He replied nonchalantly, as if it wasn't a big deal, even though it made Kise's breath hitch. "If I saw you eat after finishing my food I'd get hungry again." He added, already chewing on a piece of chicken.

"Ew, don't speak with your mouth full, Aominecchi!" Kise squealed, forgetting the momentaneous flutter in his belly. "Your brutish manners are making your parents look bad."

"Oi!" Aomine began, but seemed unable to come up with a good response. "They tried their best, okay?" he said finally, blushing a little. Aominecchi defending his parents was awfully cute. Kise wanted to kiss him. "Gimme' some, that looks good." Aomine continued, trying to divert his attention and snatching a big piece of chicken and egg from Kise's bowl without even waiting to get a confirmation.

"AOMINECCHI!" Kise squealed, louder this time, trying to recover his food from Aomine's chopsticks, but by the time he reacted, Aomine was already chewing on it. "You can't just go around stealing people's food, damnit, it's like you're still thirteen!" he huffed, his eyebrows knit in a scowl.

"C'mon, don't be dramatic. What's it you always say? 'You're too young to get wrinkles on your handsome face." Aomine quipped back, doing an _extremely poor_ imitation of Kise's voice while pressing Kise's brow with his finger. Kise really wanted to be offended, but all he could do was blush and let his mouth hang wide open, even if he knew Aominecchi hadn't _really_ called him handsome because it almost sounded like he had. "Here, you can have some of mine." Aomine said, and before Kise could react, Aominecchi was holding a piece of his own pork a breath away from Kise's lips. Kise hesitated a little, wondering if Aominecchi was even aware of what he was doing, but finally decided a bite for a bite was fair and chomped down on the meat. The crust made a nice crunch when his teeth sunk into it. It was really good, if a little too greasy for his taste.

"Now we're even." Aomine concluded, going back to pick at his own food with the exact same chopsticks that he'd used to feed Kise. Obviously, it's not like any sensible human being would change them over something as stupid as an indirect kiss. And really, Kise had had his mouth on a lot of Aomine's _things_ to start getting self-conscious about chopsticks, but he still couldn't get his heart to stop pounding against his ribcage.

"You gonna' complain about everything or you gonna' let me watch this movie now? The dude's pretty fun."

Kise looked down at his bowl of food, hoping Aominecchi wouldn't notice how red his face was right now. He was so glad he'd turned off the lights, because for someone who hated rom-coms so much, Aominecchi was awfully natural at doing cliché rom-com stuff without even noticing.

* * *

"I gotta admit that was pretty fun." Aomine mused as the end credits rolled.

"Told you so." Kise replied simply, squatting in front of the TV to take the disk out.

"I never said all rom-coms were bad, I just don't really like them. And the one we watched last time _was_ super shitty."

Kise huffed. "Whatever, it's my choice now." He mumbled, putting another disk on. This would be good to set a quieter mood, which he needed if his "seduction" plan had any hopes of working. While the opening music started, Kise picked up their empty takeout bowls and shoved them in the small trash can he kept in the room. Then he went to the closet to get a couple of blankets –the night was getting a little chilly, even though it was May already, and Aominecchi had always been weak to the cold.

"Oh, fuck no, I hate this movie!" Aomine hollered pointing at the screen.

Kise whined, feigning offense. "You haven't even watched it!"

"Well, no, but Mum loves it and I know it's awful."

"But it's a classic! How could I educate you in romantic movies if you don't watch this one?"

"You said rom-coms! This one's all dramatic and shit!"

"But-but… it's my _favorite_!" Kise protested as a last resource. It wasn't really a lie, but Aominecchi was right in that it didn't quite count as a romantic comedy, but he really wanted to watch it.

Aomine stared at him with a deep frown on his face –and Kise almost pointed out how he would get early wrinkles, but he didn't because he wasn't fully recovered from when Aominecchi sorta called him handsome-. After a short staring contest –in which Kise put out his secret, super powerful, fail-proof lethal weapon: his cute pouty face with fake-teary eyes- Aomine threw his hands in the air as a sign of defeat.

"Just so you know, you won't always get your way just because you have that stupid cute puppy face, I'm just doing you a special favour." Aomine clarified unconvincingly, not looking at Kise's face.

"Yay!" Kise beamed "I love you, Aominecchi. You're the best!" he chirped without thinking it too much.

He cursed to himself and bit his tongue when he realized the words he'd used. He hadn't actually told Aomine upfront that he loved him. He panicked, now the evening was going to be weird and awkward. Why couldn't he control his big stupid mouth?

"O-of course I'm the best." Aominecchi replied quietly, his cheeks glowing a light red. "Are you ever gonna bring those blankets or am I gonna have to go take them from you? I'm freezing."

Kise jolted a little. He hadn't expected Aomine to take his sudden declaration of love so… well. Maybe he just didn't care? No, that wasn't it. Kise knew Aomine well, he knew that he _did_ care, and from his face he could tell that he was a little flustered and embarrassed, but that he also didn't feel bothered or annoyed. Maybe he even looked a little happy, or maybe Kise's wishful thinking was making him imagine that. But either way, the mood didn't feel ruined. They were both quiet, with just the movie playing in the background, but the air felt light and cozy.

Maybe there was a chance that this could actually work.

He sat on the cushion next to Aominecchi and scooted a little closer tentatively before throwing the blankets over both of their knees.

"Thanks." Aomine muttered quietly, pulling the fabric closer.

"If Aominecchi's really cold, I can go downstairs and make some hot chocolate or something." He offered with a smile.

Aomine blushed again. "I'm not that cold, and I'm also not a little kid, I don't need you to make chocolate for me." He replied, scratching his cheek. "Oh, come on! I told you this movie was crap, look at that chick, that's just stupid!" he switched gears angrily, pointing at the screen. "'Sides, it's colder downstairs, you'll get sick." He added, his voice very quiet again.

Kise's heart thrummed loudly in his chest. "I'm just saying Aominecchi's super weak to the cold, and you're not fooling me with your fake coffee cups, you've always liked hot chocolate better." He said teasingly, inching just a little bit closer. "Also, that's not crap, that's romantic and sad! Just because you're a heartless brute and you don't understand the beauty of a forbidden love that defies all barriers!" he protested, but he couldn't even act like he was mad. His belly felt fluttery. This felt nice, so nice. What was it that Takao had said the other day?

" _Prove to him that you could make each other happy, that you're great together."_

Takao was right. They were good together. They always had fun, even when they were arguing. This could definitely work if he tried. He scooted a little bit closer and could almost feel Aomine's hand next to his, their shoulders nearly touching. If he moved his hand just a little more to the right, he could lace their fingers together.

He'd do it. He could definitely do it, take a real step and try to make this relationship work. There were so many movies where fake relationships became real, what was keeping him from having that chance too? He'd do it quick the next time Aominecchi complained, and he'd measure his response then.

The next scene was definitely going to make Aomine complain.

Kise's skin itched.

In a few moments…

In a few moments…

Cold, rough skin made contact with his. Electricity ran through his fingers.

Kise snapped his neck to look away from the screen and down to the spot where his hand was, his heart thundering against his ribs.

Aomine's hand was on top of his.

Kise looked up at Aomine, his cheeks burning and his mind dizzy with confusion. He opened his mouth to say something, but his voice died when he felt Aomine entwine their fingers together. Kise couldn't breathe. This was really happening. Aomine had… Kise hadn't done anything. He hadn't had time to. And yet they were holding hands, as if it were natural. Kise squeezed Aomine's hand lightly, tentatively. Aomine was frowning at the screen, but he squeezed back.

Kise's heart swelled. This could work.

"You gonna tell me the mother's stupid story was 'romantic' too? It's so fucking dumb!"

"It makes sense because it's a period piece! Things were different back then!"

Aomine _could_ fall in love with him.

 **To be continued**

Yeah, okay, this was actually not supposed to stop there, but suddenly this chapter was 15K words, so I decided it was better to cut it in half. The plus side is that you'll get an update real soon! Also, like I promised, no crying Kise this chapter!

I really wanted to start inserting Momoi into the story because she's so important for Aomine and she loves all those idiot miracle boys so much and cares so much about them, I can't think she wouldn't be worried about what's going on between Aomine and Kise. But don't ask me why I always end up writing terrible basketball scenes when it's so hard to do them. The story just somehow ends up there time and time again ;-; It's just such a good opportunity to showcase their friendly rivalry and I can't help it. I love writing them bantering and arguing about stupid shit.

For commitment's sake, I actually did the same google search as Aomine and didn't get any useful results. Sometimes Google-sensei doesn't have all the answers ): He's gonna have to find the answer somewhere else in his heart

I don't think we've been told explicitly who became Kaijou's captain after Kasamatsu graduated, but Hayakawa has Kasamatsu's mad eyebrow game, so I thought that gave him captain qualities(oh, nvm, went to wiki to confirm and Hayakawa actually is confirmed the new captain. Eyebrows don't lie)

 _Nakau_ is a Japanese fast food chain that, like a lot of (the best) Japanese fast food chains, specializes in _donburimono_ , basically a bowl of rice with some kind of meat on top: Kise's has egg and chicken (hence the name _oyakodon_ : "father and child bowl") and Aomine's has breaded chicken. I'm personally partial for beef or curry bowls, not that anyone cares about that (ugghhh I miss donburimono). Also, the movies they watched were the Ore Monogatari live action (which I haven't seen, but the anime was pretty okayish as far as bland funny romances go)

I wonder if anyone has any guesses about Kasamatsu's date. Don't bother. It's Imayoshi. I ship them. I'm trash. Leave me and my trashy rarepair alone.

Hope you enjoyed it, and sorry for the delay, next chapter will be up in two weeks, pinky promise my friends. Please let me know your thoughts, all your comments are really encouraging!


	9. Not all rom-coms are bad: Part II

**A PSA for anyone who thinks I should put specific forewarnings about who tops or bottoms:**

 **IT DOES NOT MATTER WHOSE DICK GOES IN WHOSE ASS**

I'm sorry that your worldview is so limited you can't appreciate the beauty of such concept. Also, if you'd bother reading the author notes, you would've seen I mentioned they'd be reversible in chapter two. Stuff it.

 **Everyone else:** I really do hope you enjoy this chapter and I'm sorry for that, I have no tolerance for people who make a stink about completely irrelevant shit.

Warnings for this chapter: Inappropriate use of bodily fluids, in more ways than you may imagine :D

* * *

 **Chapter 9: Not all rom-coms are bad**

 **Part II: Some are worse**

Aomine really hated this movie. He knew it was all the rage among girls their age –even though it was like a decade old-. He simply couldn't understand why girls would enjoy a film in which the female lead was an idiot, often getting manipulated or looked down on by the man that claimed to "love her". He'd never been a relationship expert, but he sure as hell wouldn't want to date any of those characters. Even the sex scene was lame. The only good thing about it was that Kise was snuggling closer to him now, which was really nice and warm. He didn't know why Kise hadn't turned on the air conditioner to keep the room a little warmer now that the temperature had dropped a little, but he didn't feel like asking. Human warmth was nicer than appliance warmth.

The movie ended with the pair dying of old age together. Aomine rolled his eyes.

"You seriously made me sit through the whole stupid th—"

He was interrupted by a loud sob. He turned to look at Kise's face and found him weeping, fat tears rolling down his cheeks and smearing his mascara over his pale skin. His heart felt a painful squeeze for a moment, but as he examined Kise's expression further, he couldn't help a small, relieved smile.

"I can't believe you're crying over that stupid movie."

It wasn't that he liked to see Kise crying, but damn if it wasn't nice to know he was actually crying about that idiotic movie and not for… something else.

"I can't believe _you're_ not crying!" Kise squeaked with indignation. "Are you even human?!" he sniffled.

Aomine was just so glad that it wasn't his fault Kise was crying.

"Anyone with two working eyes would see through those cheap drama tricks, jesus." He flicked Kise's forehead. "You should look at yourself, you're a mess. When did you even put make-up on anyway? You weren't wearing it during the game."

"Of course I wasn't, duh. I put it on _after_ the game, I'm not an anim—AOMINECCHI WHAT ARE YOUMMFF—"

Aomine grabbed the hem of Kise's t-shirt and pulled it up to wipe the tears and snot from his face.

"That's so gross, Aominecchi, HOW DARE YOU?! I actually like this shirt, YOU BEAST!" Kise screeched, his face red with fury, some black splotches of mascara still clinging to his cheeks, his golden eyes staring horrified at the stain on the shirt.

Aomine didn't respond, for the simple reason that he wasn't gonna admit he'd suddenly wanted to kiss him, but couldn't because his face was covered with snot and tears and make-up. And any possible retort he could've thought of died in his throat when he caught Kise pulling his ruined shirt over his head.

"Do you even know how fucking hard it is to get make-up off of clothes?! Do you?! Of course you don't because you're a FUCKING NEANDERTHAL!" Kise continued screaming, but Aomine wasn't really listening, his eyes too busy following the angles of Kise's collarbones, his lean figure, the soft curve of his waist, the barely-there abs and the sharp corners of his hipbones and the tuft of dark brown hair peeking out from his low-cut jeans and getting lost in—

Aomine's vision went black for a second and he felt something wet and sticky getting smeared on his face. It took him a couple of blinks to process what was happening.

"WHAT THE FUCK KISE!" he roared, snatching the stupid shirt from Kise's hand and throwing it away carelessly. The skin of his face prickled with the gross feeling of tears and snot that were not his. He wiped himself clean using his own shirt before launching himself towards Kise, tackling him to the ground.

"You were totally begging for it! That shirt was new! _NEW_! You've five seconds to start scrubbing it clean and if there's a single spot left I'm never gonna forgive you!"

Aomine leaned down closer, holding both of Kise's arms above his head so he couldn't push him away. "Oh, no, you'll never forgive me? How terrible, I feel so full of regret now." He sneered. Kise struggled beneath him, trying to kick him off, and in that moment Aomine was very grateful for whatever many kilos he had to his advantage because he was growing increasingly certain that the moment he let go of Kise's hands, he'd get his own face ripped off his skull (which he probably deserved). And yet, he couldn't contain his own laughter. There was something just inherently fun about this. It felt almost like when they were trying to outdo each other on court, arguing back and forth to see who'd have the last laugh.

"C'mon, don't glare at me like that. It's the second time tonight I've to tell you about those premature wrinkles you're so obsessed about."

Kise huffed furiously, his hot breath tickling Aomine's face. He found himself mildly entranced by the fire in Kise's eyes, like molten liquid gold. His eyes found Kise's mouth, lips slightly parted, panting heavily, the perfectly white tips of his canines barely visible. He briefly wondered if he should be concerned by how much he wanted to kiss him considering the circumstances, but he discarded the thought immediately and instead gave in to his basic urge to get a taste from Kise's mouth. Kise yelped when they kissed, his fiery eyes widening with bewilderment before pulling back.

"Aominecchi, you're not kissing your way out of this!" he protested. "You better get on to cleaning that shirt soon, if the stains get dry they'll never come off!"

Aomine laughed. He wasn't really sure of why this whole thing felt so funny, and he was sure Kise was finding exactly zero amusement in how not-seriously he was taking this whole thing, but it just felt so right. His chest felt light, none of the guilt or dread he'd been experiencing recently when he started worrying about hurting Kise's feelings. No, right now it felt as if this was exactly how things were meant to be between them. Not like, exactly "this" –because "this" meant a shirtless Kise furiously writhing beneath him and maybe he shouldn't let his dick do the thinking anymore- but more like, the feel of it all, how easy and natural it felt.

Without realizing it, he let go of Kise's wrists and instead, both of his hands found Kise's to lace their fingers together. He'd come to like this, how their fingers fit when entwined. He noticed the rage dissolving from Kise's expression and turning to confusion, his pale cheeks taking on a soft pink glow. From up close, he could see the natural length of Kise's eyelashes and the cat-like curve of his eyelid, only the smallest amount of eyeliner left after their scuffle. He could feel his own heart beating hard against his ribcage. He'd long come to terms with the fact that Kise was almost irresistibly beautiful, but it still bothered him how effortlessly he seemed to make him fall for his charms. It was almost unfair.

"Why'd you even bother with make-up when you look so good without it?" he breathed before leaning forward to kiss him again, hot and needy for reasons he couldn't understand.

Kise shivered beneath him, his naked chest arching towards his. His eyes fluttered close and he parted his lips further to invite Aomine's tongue into his mouth.

He pulled away shortly for breath and managed to whisper "Because I look _fabulous_ with it, you uncultur—" before Aomine captured his lips again, hungry, demanding, almost as if he wanted to steal the life out of Kise's body.

And Kise let him.

* * *

Kise wasn't sure of how he'd ended on his own bed, half naked, the blood in his veins boiling, with Aomine's body pressed flush against his, kissing aggressively, lips getting caught by teeth, tongues exploring each other's mouth, air getting sucked straight out of his lungs. There was a little voice nagging at the back of his head, _that shirt's gonna be ruined now, and it was a nice one_ , but Kise couldn't bring himself to care anymore. His head was spinning, spinning and he feared he would pass out from overstimulation. He needed to get oxygen in his system _right now_ , but _god_ he didn't want this kiss to end. He gasped for breathe in between kisses, letting his hands roam free under Aomine's shirt, touching, feeling, holding on to anything to keep his mind grounded. His skin burned with every touch, their bodies undulating against each other, and he wanted, wanted, but he needed to _breathe_.

He shoved Aomine back lightly and inhaled sharply, filling his lungs with precious oxygen. When the haze dissipated from his sight, he sat up and noticed Aomine straddling his thighs and staring at him, half confused, half embarrassed, panting heavily, the corner of his eye twitching a little, as if he didn't know what to do now.

 _Well, this is awkward._

Kise sighed. They'd had a perfectly good moment and he'd killed it. Past experience had taught him that getting in the right mood with Aominecchi was very difficult; if Aominecchi wasn't blushing and being overly self-conscious about everything he did, it was Kise himself overthinking everything and torturing himself. And now he'd completely ruined that wonderfully mindless spark that had lit between them. He wanted to slap himself.

"Uhm… you okay?"

His eyes shot up once again to find Aominecchi glancing at him sheepishly, as if he felt too ashamed to look him in the eye, and all Kise could do was smile. His heart felt warmth remembering how genuinely Aominecchi cared for him, and how pure his concern was. It made him feel even more hopeful about the possibilities of success for his half-baked seduction attempt.

"I'm okay, I'm okay, I just needed to breath." He replied dismissively, letting his lips pull into a toothy grin. "Jeez, Aominecchi's so eager I thought I might get devoured for real, like in those horror movies." He added teasingly.

As expected, Aomine flushed a deeper shade of red. "O-oi! You were the one biting!"

Kise's grin only widened and he pointed at his sharp canines. "Oh no, I've been discovered by Aominecchi! He'll now realize I'm actually a vampire with only the most wicked of intentions!" he exclaimed melodramatically.

Aomine shoved a pillow to his face, his brow wrinkled in a deep scowl. "Shut up, I'm feeling second-hand embarrassment from hearing you say something so stupid."

"Aominecchi's so pure I thought you may actually believe it." Kise replied, unable to hold back his growing smile, even with Aomine shoving the pillow harder against his face, to the point of making him lie down on the mattress again. Kise managed to snatch the pillow away and throw it far from Aominecchi's reach, so they were now just looking at each other, Kise smiling, entertained, and Aomine frowning and embarrassed.

"So…" Aomine began after a couple seconds of pleasant silence. "I guess we're not watching any more movies?"

Of all the things he could've asked, that was the one Kise would've never expected. He almost wanted to laugh.

"If you want we can watch something else, but I think it'd be a waste if we don't take advantage of the fact that we have the house for ourselves tonight." He replied wiggling his eyebrows, his eyes glinting mischievously.

Aominecchi, as expected, blushed and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "W-well if it's between that and letting you pick another god awful movie I-I guess I d-don't really have a choice."

Kise couldn't even try not to laugh at that. He sat up again and cupped Aomine's cheeks to press a loud smooch on his lips, letting his giggles drown in the kiss. Aomine pulled back briefly and took his shirt off, revealing his perfect dark-skinned torso. Kise wet his lips with his tongue unconsciously. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't dreamt of licking honey or chocolate syrup off of every inch of Aomine's gorgeous body, but he had a feeling that Aominecchi would not be very appreciative of the thought. He pushed that idea out of his mind and instead focused on once again running his hands over Aomine's chest, his chiseled abs and broad chest that made goosebumps bloom on his skin.

Aomine was mirroring his actions, his calloused fingers dragging over his body, as if trying to memorize every shape, angle and curve, fingers gliding over his flesh, tickling his sides, pinching his nipples…

Pinching his nipples.

That gave Kise pause. He broke the kiss and cocked his head when he glanced down to where Aomine's thumb and index were rubbing his nipple, the pink tip hard and sensitive.

"That's new." He commented absentmindedly. Aominecchi was getting more initiative each time and Kise didn't really know how to feel about that. There was the part of him that quite enjoyed having to guide Aominecchi, holding the reins and teaching his inexperienced love all the secrets of physical pleasures. But there was that other part of him that got really hot and excited just from thinking of being manhandled by a confident Aomine who knew exactly what to do to make him melt under his touch.

"I, uh…" Aominecchi seemed to grow self-conscious again and withdrew his hand. "R-read somewhere that it… f-feels nice for some guys…"

Unfortunately, Kise wasn't one of those guys, but he wasn't about to say it. He felt a rush of heat course through his body and he had to hide his face in his hands to cover for his embarrassment.

 _Too cute._

"Oi." Aomine's fingers wrapped around his wrists, pulling his hands away from his face. "You get to watch and make fun of me every time I'm embarrassed; you're not allowed to hide when _you_ are."

Kise's heart hiccupped and he briefly worried that his beautiful face would melt away from how hot he felt. Aomine didn't give him time to ponder about it much, sealing his lips with a hungry kiss, while his hands fumbled with the button and zipper of his pants. Kise tried to copy the motions, but he was a bit too dizzy and a bit too drunk in happiness to even attempt it, so he contented himself with holding on to Aomine's broad back.

Aomine broke the kiss, and before Kise could fully open his eyes or try to chase after his mouth, he felt the tip of his cock engulfed in wet heat, and he threw his head back to moan loudly. He looked down through clouded eyes and almost came when he found Aomine's lips wrapped around his dick.

"A-a-aomine-cchi." He breathed.

Dark eyes turned up to meet his, a teasing glint on his growing smirk. "If you're gonna cum you better tell me beforehand. I'm not swallowing that gross shit."

Kise wasn't sure of how he was supposed to achieve that, but instead he said "You don't… have to do that" with a thin voice.

Aomine's smirk grew a little wider. "What? Think I can't give a decent 'service'?." He teased before taking Kise's cock in his mouth again.

Kise moaned again as he felt Aomine's tongue tentatively dragging over his sensitive flesh. Aomine's hooded eyes met his, his cheeks flushed as he sucked on the head, his cheeks hollowing, and Kise really wanted to scream. He felt a warm liquid trickling down his nose, which he found to be blood after trying to wipe it away with his fingers. He thought he should feel a little more ashamed of himself, being perverted enough to actually bleed from arousal, but instead he decided he should be proud of himself for not coming on the spot. Still, maybe he should take his eyes off Aominecchi, before the sight of his dick disappearing inside wet lips pushed him over the edge much too soon.

Fortunately (or not so much) Aomine pulled away to look at him with concern in his eyes. "You're bleeding." He said, and Kise could tell how hard he was trying not to panic.

"I-I'm okay," Kise replied, hurriedly wiping off more blood from under his nose. "I… Aominecchi's really hot."

In seconds, Aomine's worried frown morphed into a cocky grin. "Tell me something I don't know".

Kise laughed, lacing his arms around Aomine's neck to pull him in for yet another kiss. He could taste the bitterness in Aomine's tongue, but it didn't bother him in the slightest. He dug his fingers into Aomine's short hair. It was coarse and dry. Kise sighed into the kiss. He'd have to educate Aomine about using proper hair products, it was a total waste, with such a handsome face, to let his hair get ruined out of negligence.

Their hips were moving of their own accord, grinding against each other, desperate for some friction. Kise fumbled with Aomine's pants, finally managing to unzip and unbutton them to pull them down along with the underwear. Aomine gasped when he felt his erection finally free of its constraints and rocked his hips faster, wrapping one hand around both of their manhoods to stroke them together. Shots of electricity bolted up Kise's spine. He moaned into the kiss, his fingernails digging small crescent marks into Aomine's nape. He could feel the heat pooling at the bottom of his stomach and he knew he was close. Aomine's hand was slick with precum. It was a genuine miracle that he'd managed to hold back so much, considering how things had _ended_ the last time Aomine sucked his dick. He wasn't sure if Aominecchi would want to go all the way tonight, but he wouldn't mind ending like this and trying for a second round later on. He was about to say something to that end, when Aomine broke the kiss and took his hand back.

Kise untangled his fingers from Aomine's hair and let his hands rest on his broad shoulders. He pushed the fog out of his mind and looked at Aomine, whose gaze was adrift, as if trying to avoid him, a dark blush creeping up his neck. Kise opened his mouth to ask if something was wrong, but once again, Aomine beat him to it.

"So, uh… how're we gonna' do this…?"

Kise cocked his head, not sure that he understood what Aomine was saying.

"I mean… last time you let me… d-d-do what I wanted so…"

Kise's eyes widened.

"I-it's okay Aominecchi, I'm always doing whatever I want." He stuttered, afraid of what he might respond if he actually took on that offer. "I already told you I wouldn't've let you do me if I didn't want it." Even though he tried to sound confident, his mind was already going places it shouldn't, and his ears were burning with shame.

"I-I know…" Aomine was fidgeting slightly. "But I… I didn't really do it great last time so i-it's only fair."

"Wha-? Aominecchi did fine! I-it wasn't like, p-perfect but no one is! You do know men can't fake orgasms, right? I… it was fine… I-I liked it."

He hated it when Aominecchi started doubting himself. It didn't suit him. Aominecchi was a cocky idiot and Kise couldn't stand seeing him any other way. It hurt him to see Aominecchi's confidence crack, even if it was for the most stupid things, and he would reassure Aominecchi however many times were necessary to get that stupid cocky smirk back on his face where it belonged.

The tension in Aomine's shoulders seemed to ease down a little bit, to Kise's relief.

"I still think that y-you should choose… "

Kise's breathe hitched.

"W-what if…" he swallowed. "what if I said I want to fuck Aominecchi…"

Aomine jolted a little.

"I didn't even bring condoms of my size, so it's not like… w-we can do it the other w-way around."

"But you don't have to force yourself to it. I mean there are lots of ways that we can do it without going all the way." Aominecchi had always been very proud, so Kise had assumed he wouldn't really be the type to take it up the ass without protesting. Kise quite liked switching around, but he'd always been willing to compromise for Aominecchi's sake.

"It's not like… it'd be the first time." Aomine's voice was thin. "It wasn't… it wasn't that bad."

Kise felt a spark of memory lighting up in his head. He'd almost forgotten about that. Their actual first time had been so weird and painful and awkward he'd almost pushed it out of his head, even if it had only been a few months ago. He'd forgotten how proud he'd been when Aominecchi called him to say he'd kind of enjoyed it. His blood started burning. It was unfair that Aominecchi could still surprise him after all these years, after Kise had committed himself to know him better than anyone else.

"S-so… I can really ask for… anything I want?"

There was a heartbeat of silence. Aomine turned to look at him, his skin dark with embarrassment, but his eyes gleaming with determination.

He nodded once.

Kise's mind raced. There were so many things he could ask for, so many years of fantasies piled in his brain he wouldn't have known where to start. He recalled how he'd thought of licking honey and chocolate and all things sweet from Aomine's skin, but he didn't want to do anything too complicated or messy. Since Aominecchi was giving him this courtesy, he wanted to return the kindness by not asking something too outrageous and that would feel good for both of them. His eyes trailed Aomine's half-naked body, his beautiful brown skin glistening with sweat, his thighs spread to straddle Kise's hips, the harsh dip of his hipbones, his strong arms and broad shoulders, his dark eyes burning with equal parts shame and excitement. His palms were splayed on Kise's abdomen, absentmindedly playing with the trail of dark brown hair leading to his crotch. Kise yelped when he saw Aomine bucking his hips, probably without even meaning it, and felt the friction of their bodies grinding against each other. His golden eyes lit up.

"I want Aominecchi to ride me."

His cock twitched the moment he said the words. Aomine stiffened. Shit, maybe he hadn't liked that idea. Maybe he'd just said he'd be okay bottoming to be kind and had been hoping for something else.

"Ah, it doesn't have to be that, if you're uncomfortable with it I can think of something else." He rushed to say, waving his hands dismissively.

Aomine shook his head. "No I… Sorry, hearing you say th-that got me… h-horny."

Kise hadn't seen that one coming.

"O-oh! I… that's good, great! Ah…" he didn't really know what to do now. The momentum they'd had was kind of gone and now all they had left was the usual shame and awkwardness.

Aominecchi clearly didn't feel that way.

"You got lube?"

Kise blinked, perplexed and then allowed himself a small chuckle. Last time he'd been telling Aominecchi over and over that he didn't have to overthink it when it came to sex, but now he was doing the exact same thing. He reached for his nightstand and blindly searched in the drawer to get out a bottle of lube and a string of condoms. He put the condoms where he could reach them more easily later on and tossed the lubricant in Aominecchi's hands.

Aomine inspected the bottle. It was almost brand new and yet, half-empty. "You… use this a lot." He said, a strange edge to his voice that Kise didn't know how to interpret.

"There's nothing wrong with getting to know one's body! Given the amount of porn Aominecchi has, I thought you were aware of that!" he chirped, delighted

Aomine looked like he wanted to say something, but changed his mind before opening his mouth. Which was good, since he'd probably been about to say 'jerking off isn't the same as fingering your ass' and realized how ridiculous that sounded given their current state of affairs. Kise grinned wider. It was strange how giddy he felt right now, when just moments ago he'd been overwhelmed with doubts and insecurities. That Aominecchi could unawaredly have such an effect on him was amazing. He felt his belly fluttering with warmth.

"Want me to help you out?" he offered, as he noticed Aomine was still examining the bottle, as if not sure of what he wanted to do with it.

Aominecchi's eyes widened for a moment, and he looked back down at the lube, contemplating his options.

"If you wanna'…" he began, running his thumb over the cap. "You'd probably do it better than me anyway and I've no clue of how to do it myself…" then, unexpectedly, his lips curled upwards in a wicked smirk and his eyes, flooding with mischief, met Kise's. "But I'm guessing that if you wanted to do it in this position it's because you like to watch and you're probably hoping that I put on a show for you."

Kise felt his heart jump to the base of his throat. Now he was certain his money-making face would definitely start boiling and melt off his skull, and this sexy date would become the subject of a horror movie. One shouldn't possibly be able to feel so much embarrassment.

 _Totally busted._

"It's probably not gonna' be a good show since I'm not really sure of what to do, but since you're a pervert you probably won't mind."

 _Nailed it again._

"A-a-aominecchi has no place calling me a pervert when he's about to sit on my dick!" he squealed, hopelessly trying to hide his shame while covering his face with his hands. Where had this super confident, sexy Aominecchi come from? Where'd his beautiful, pure and virginal Aominecchi go? And why was he so aroused by this? He'd never live down the shame of this sudden turn of events.

He felt Aomine shivering on top of him and heard him grunt a little.

"Oi, if I'm putting on a show for you, y'better watch it." He groaned, wrapping one hand around both of Kise's wrists to pull his hands away from his face.

Kise looked up, his gaze drawn by the subtle movements of Aomine's body. He'd risen to his knees , his right arm stretched around his body. Kise could see the hints of movement between Aomine's spread thighs, occasionally catching a glimpse of his hand as he pulled his finger out of his ass. Kise's eyes were glued to Aomine's hand, the bucking of his hips, the thin trail of lube leaking down his left thigh. His free hand was splayed over Kise's stomach for leverage. Small pants and groans escaped his lips, and every one of them sent a shock of pleasure straight to Kise's cock.

After a few minutes, Kise noticed Aomine trying to add a second finger in. He dug his teeth into his lower lip to muffle a painful grunt.

"Fuck, this is weird." He muttered.

It occurred to Kise that maybe Aominecchi would need a little help making himself comfortable with this process, like he had when he did it for Kise before. He forced himself to swallow the knot in his throat so he could speak.

"Aominecchi…" he said, his voice hoarse and barely recognizable. "Try to go deeper. It's gonna feel better for you that way."

He could see Aomine's hand disappearing from sight as he followed the instruction and pushed his fingers deeper. He took a sharp inhale and bucked his hips, his cock painfully hard and smeared in precum.

"Now try to add another one." Kise instructed, wrapping his hand around Aomine's neglected erection and stroking it leisurely. "Try to stretch as much as you can." He added, his lips ghosting next to Aomine's ear, "or I won't fit." He felt Aomine shiver. He rested his chin on Aomine's shoulder to look at his naked back, his round and smooth buttocks, watching intently as he inserted a third finger into his hole. Kise licked his lips. The sight of Aomine pumping his own fingers in and out of his ass was absolutely delicious. He pulled back briefly so he could look at the beautiful arch of Aomine's body, the way his lips parted to let out a long moan, how he rocked his hips faster into Kise's hand. Aominecchi probably didn't even know how wonderful he looked like this, how badly Kise wanted him, just what a magnificent show this was. Kise started worrying he might actually come untouched at this rate.

"Ah." Aomine gasped again. "I think I'm… I mean… I guess… I don't actually know, but if I'm not ready now I'm gonna cum before we get to do anything."

Kise forgot how to breathe for a second, but the next one he felt laughter bubbling in his chest. He pulled back a little and reached for a condom, noticing that Aominecchi hadn't removed his fingers, probably trying to stretch himself a little more. Kise's vision was already blurred by arousal, but he managed to tear the package open and slide the condom over his painfully hard cock. He then scanned the bed quickly and found the bottle of lubricant lying next to Aominecchi's perfect thighs. He grabbed the bottle and poured a generous amount on his palm to spread it over his cock, wincing a little with the cold substance on his sensitive flesh.

"I'm ready if you are." He announced seductively, the corners of his eyes pulling up in amusement.

Aominecchi seemed to go back to his embarrassed, doubtful self when he pulled his own fingers out and tried to align himself with Kise's manhood. He hesitated, unsure that he was doing this correctly, and he glanced back trying to make sure he was lowering himself in the right place. Kise was equal parts entertained and impatient, but after two failed attempts and feeling his erection slide tantalizingly against the flesh of Aomine's buttocks, he decided to take matters into his own hands, quite literally. He grabbed Aomine's hip with one hand to help guide him, while his free hand looped around his waist and spread his butt cheeks. He thrusted upwards slightly to get a better idea of where he was and finally found the head of his cock pressed against Aomine's entrance. Aomine yelped a little, his brows furrowed in concentration while he lowered himself. He inhaled sharply as the head passed the first resistance, spreading him wider than his three fingers had. Kise lost his breathe for a second when he felt himself squeezed by that hot passage. He saw a small tear pooling at the corner of Aomine's eyes, his teeth clenched, trying to hold back a pained growl, and forced himself to cool his head. He cupped Aomine's cheek with one hand and stroked it soothingly.

"It's okay, Aominecchi, if it hurts we can do it a different way." He reassured him, peppering butterfly kisses on the corner of his mouth, his cheeks and jawline.

"D-on't look down on… me." He groaned, going down further to take more of Kise's length inside him. "I already… mmmff… said I'd do it." His fingernails were digging into Kise's belly, and it stung a little, but it was rather meaningless when compared to the tight heat engulfing his cock. "'sides, we've done it be—hnnnn…fore, ah… I already know that it's gonna feel g-g-ood eventually."

Kise felt his cock throb. Aominecchi glared at him. "Don't get bigger, idiot." He growled lowly, with no real bite to it.

A light chuckle erupted from Kise's lips and he continued raining sweet, soothing kisses on Aomine's face and down his neck. It was all he could do not to start sheathing himself deeper before Aominecchi was ready for it, the heat so delicious it was almost sucking him in. He distracted himself by wrapping one hand around Aomine's cock and once again pumping leisurely, hoping to get Aomine's mind off the pain.

Aomine was panting heavily, slowly but surely taking more of Kise inside him. Kise was completely entranced by the vision, not sure if he wanted to focus on Aomine's face, hard with concentration, or his naked chest rising and falling with his erratic breathing, or between his glorious thighs to see his length disappearing inch by inch into Aomine's body.

At last, with a low roar of triumph, Aomine managed to sheathe all of Kise's length up to the base. Kise threw his head back and moaned when he felt himself completely wrapped in that heat.

"A-aominecchi's amazing." He sighed, his eyes soft with affection, his body trembling with eagerness.

"Yeah, we all know that, now shut up and give me a minute." Aominecchi groaned, trying to even his breathing.

He pressed the pad of his thumb to the slit of Aomine's cock and watched him jolt with pleasure. Without warning, Aomine pushed him with both hands until his back hit the mattress.

"Stay there." He ordered, with a shaky voice. "I already said I'm putting on a show, so you just watch.

Kise swallowed hard and nodded, his cock twitching again. Getting bossed around by Aominecchi shouldn't be this arousing.

"And stop getting bigger, fuck!" Aomine growled at him.

Kise lifted himself on his forearms to get a better view of Aomine's body on top of his. His large calloused hands were splayed on his chest for leverage. Kise loved this vision, loved the contrast of their skins, loved Aomine's look of confidence and determination with just that tiny hint of embarrassment in his eyes. When Aomine lifted himself slightly and sank back on his cock with a hesitant thrust, Kise could literally see stars. He trained his eyes on Aomine's moving figure, trying to imprint the image in his brain, because god it was so much better than any and all of his fantasies combined.

He couldn't dwell on that for long though. Aomine's pace was slowly increasing, his thrusts turning deeper. Kise heard him groan, and the fevered look on his face and the painfully delicious tightening around his dick showed he was starting to enjoy it.

"Feel good yet?" he asked, teasingly, surprised that he was even able to speak at this point. He briefly thought of jerking Aomine off to ease the process, but the wicked idea of watching Aominecchi cum just from fucking himself on Kise was too good to pass.

"F…fuck… fuck, I hate you." Aomine groaned, his face burning with embarrassment. Kise took that as an affirmation.

He thrust his hips upward, trying to match the pace of Aomine's movements, and the moment he did it, his vision turned white. He heard Aomine groan loudly and saw him throwing his head back through the haze of his own pleasure. Kise gasped for breath, his heart hammering against his ribcage, warmth pooling in the pit of his stomach alarmingly quick. He sat up on the bed and cupped Aomine's beautiful face in his hands, felt the drops of sweat running down his cheeks, and leaned in for a hot, desperate kiss. Aomine's hands ran up his torso to hold on to his shoulders, trying to keep balance, his hips rocking harder and faster. Kise's breath hitched every time he felt that sinful hotness clenching around him, and when he parted his lips, Aomine thrust his tongue into his mouth aggressively.

Kise had to pull away to breathe, and when he did, he allowed one of his hands to fall to Aomine's hips to help, now that their rocking into each other was starting to become erratic. Although his vision was blurred by the overload of sensations, he could still make out Aomine's face, his eyes dark with desire, his lips glistening with saliva, his mouth parted to let out a string of long, low moans.

"Fuck, it's good." Aomine growled, needy. Kise rolled his hips, looking for a different angle, and he apparently succeeded, since Aomine moaned louder than ever, his eyes widening for a second. He looped his arms around Kise's neck, barely able to keep himself in balance. "Fuck, fuck, yes!" his teeth found Kise's ear and nibbled on its curve. "Fuck, Kise, do that again." He commanded, his voice thick with want.

Kise didn't have half the self-awareness he'd need to be exactly sure of what he had to do, but for the life of him if Aominecchi wanted something, he'd give it. He tried to roll his hips again, but he missed the mark. He nuzzled Aomine's neck and started sucking right below his jawline, giving one more thrust, hoping to find Aomine's good spot soon, to memorize its location, to know how to find it in the future, learn how to make Aomine dizzy with pleasure like no one else could. The third attempt was the charm, and Kise sank his teeth to the tender flesh of Aomine's neck when he felt the hot walls tightening around his cock so badly he thought he'd come.

"Fuck… fuck, don't stop…God, yes!"

Kise was pretty sure Aomine wasn't a religious man, so he promised himself he had to remember the moment he'd fucked him so good he'd made him call on the higher powers, no matter how much his head was spinning. He thrust again, knowing what angle to search for. He grabbed Aomine's hips with both hands and slammed him down on his cock, both of them moaning at the forceful friction. He pulled away from Aomine's neck and kissed him hard, his canine catching Aomine's lower lip and piercing the skin. All he could hear was Aomine's long moans, the slapping of their skin, hips grinding into each other. The heat in his lower abdomen was growing hotter and hotter, and Kise knew he wasn't gonna last long.

"A-ah… I'm-I'm coming, ah, I'm… _Daiki_ , I'm coming." He breathed against Aomine's mouth.

Their naked chests were pressed flush against each other, and Kise felt Aomine's heart hiccup. He lifted himself off Kise's cock until only the head was still inside him. Kise gasped. Aomine dug his fingernails on Kise's milky back and inhaled sharply, stealing the oxygen straight from Kise's mouth, and god, he really needed to stop doing that or Kise was going to die from asphyxia. After a heartbeat, he sank back down in one single, rough thrust that knocked all of Kise's brain functions straight to space. He felt, rather than heard, the strangled moan that came out of his chest, the sudden rush of heat that engulfed him pushing him over the edge. With the last bit of consciousness in him, he collapsed back into the mattress and wrapped his fingers around Aomine's leaking cock, pumping hectically, cum already flowing onto his hand while they rode out their orgasm.

He thought he heard someone calling his given name, but he was too dizzy to be sure about it.

* * *

Aomine wasn't sure of how long he'd been out of it, but it was still dark outside when his vision became somewhat clear again. Having sex with Kise had always been great, but he felt this time was on a completely different level. His entire body was tingling and light, and he felt so exhausted and yet so satisfied he didn't even know what to do with himself. He'd never drunk or smoked before, but he imagined this was what being high must feel like, his heart fluttering inside his chest, his surroundings sparkling. He drummed his fingers on whatever it was that he was lying on and heard a soft whine. He lifted his gaze and found Kise underneath him, his skin beautifully pink, his breathing still erratic, a wide smile on his lips that showed his pearly teeth. When their eyes met, Kise's lit up, shining like actual gold, and for some reason, it reminded him of his mother's wedding ring. Aomine's stomach suddenly felt incredibly warm, and he couldn't really resist the pull of a smile. The next thing he knew they were laughing and he was peppering light kisses all over Kise's face, stealing some soft giggles straight from his mouth.

"Aominecchi was amazing." Kise wheezed, squirming.

"I always am." He retorted with a cocky grin.

Kise slapped his shoulder and pushed him away. Aomine grew slightly self-conscious when he felt Kise's dick sliding out of him, and his cheeks heated up.

"Jeez, when did Aominecchi become so full of himself? To think that just a short time ago you were an adorable blushing virgin!" Kise sighed dramatically, sliding the condom off and tying it in a knot before throwing it to the trash can across the room. Of course he didn't miss.

"I'll have you know I haven't been a virgin for months. You're personally responsible for that." He snapped back, grabbing a box of tissues from the nightstand to begin wiping off his own cum from his stomach. Seriously why'd he come this much?

Kise's eye widened for a second, obviously not expecting that comeback, but after the shock passed, he laughed, he too busy wiping off Aomine's cum from his torso.

They fell into a short but comfortable silence. Aomine's skin started blossoming with goosebumps; now that their bodies were slightly apart, the slight chill of the room became more noticeable. He wanted to get done with this gross cleaning business soon so he could go back to Kise's warmth. He noticed Kise was totally showing off, throwing all his used tissues to the trash can and nailing all of the shots, so he decided he couldn't be left behind, trying to outdo Kise with improbable and needlessly difficult shots. Kise frowned and his eyes flared with fire.

"Are you really gonna' use Perfect Copy to shoot cum into the trash?" Aomine asked mockingly.

Kise's scowl deepened and he threw the last tissue backwards. "Don't need it." He said simply as the paper fell straight into the basket.

Aomine might have given it a second of thought to the fact that they were getting stupid and competitive about tissues full of _his_ _semen_ , but he was clearly not smart enough for that, so instead he grabbed his last tissue and lied down on the mattress to shoot. He smiled with satisfaction as he was about to let go of the tissue, but before it left his fingertips, he was pounced on by Kise, messing up his shot and making it deviate from its course to land close to the TV.

"Oi! That's cheating!"

Kise grinned shamelessly, pinning him down to the bed. "I win though." He chirped happily and leaning down to peck his lips. Aomine huffed into the kiss but didn't resist. Instead he twisted his wrists and found Kise's fingers to entwine them together, his body already growing comfortable being encased by Kise's body heat.

When they parted, Kise's eyes were twinkling with mirth and his smile was as wide as Aomine had ever seen it. He liked that sight, knowing that Kise felt so happy and fulfilled. This was how Kise should always be.

"Y'know… you were pretty good too." He found himself admitting, his heart stuttering.

Kise cocked his head, deeply amused. "Oh, no need for the flattery, we were just shooting Aominecchi's cum across the room, it's not really an accomplishment."

Aomine didn't stop to say anything about how wrong that statement had sounded and instead headbutted Kise to hide his embarrassment. "Not that, idiot!" he swallowed hard. "I meant… before." He wasn't gonna say 'when you made me realize how much I enjoy taking it up the ass', simply because he'd rather die than say that out loud, but he knew Kise would figure it out by himself and make fun of him either way.

As expected, Kise's happy, teasing grin grew into a devilish smirk. Aomine decided to interrupt him before he could say something that'd make him want to be swallowed by the ground.

"Also, I'm sorry for that shirt. I'll buy you a new one."

The malice vanished from Kise's expression, and was replaced by genuine curiosity and excitement.

"What, what whaaaat? Aominecchi's buying me clothes?! Is this the real life?" he squealed delighted. "Oh my god, let's go tomorrow, there's a Golden Week sale in Landmark Plaza, please!"

"O-oi, I'm just buying you one shirt to replace the one that's never getting the make-up off." Aomine clarified, suddenly scared of the monster he'd unleashed.

"Sure, sure, I know Aominecchi's poor, but you can still come shopping with me! I'd been meaning to go anyway! Pleeease, it's gonna be fun! We can try some stuff on and maybe I can do something about your nonexistent sense of style!"

"Hey, are you saying you don't like how I dress?" he felt mildly offended by that.

A bright red flush crept up Kise's neck and all the way to the tips of his ears.

"I n-never said that, but I'm pretty sure it's just a lucky coincidence plus the fact that Aominecchi's so unfairly handsome."

"You're one to talk about being unfairly handsome."

Kise froze again and he crashed on the mattress next to Aomine, his right hand still laced to Aomine's left. Aomine turned to lie on his side to look at his face and marvel at the blissful glow of his expression. He'd never seen Kise looking so happy.

"Fine, I'll go shopping with you tomorrow, but I won't carry your bags for you."

Kise was apparently not bothered by that condition at all, his smile unfaltering. He stroked Aomine's cheek with one hand, but it was Aomine who leaned in for the kiss this time, chaste and short, yet tender and warm. When they parted, Aomine thought he probably felt as happy as Kise looked.

Kise pressed their foreheads together, his brilliant golden eyes trained on Aomine's blues.

"I love you"

Aomine's heart stuttered.

"I…"

He wanted to say it. He felt like it was right to say it.

Kise's eyes widened for a moment, and Aomine saw hope in them. His stomach grew heavy with dread.

He couldn't say it.

"I'm really tired, and we're getting up early tomorrow, so g'night."

He saw the hurt and disappointment flash through Kise's golden eyes, his beautiful smile quivering at its corners, and it pierced through his heart. He reached out to touch Kise's cheek and pecks his lips short and quick, trying to make that painful expression go away. It only _kind of_ worked.

"Good night, Aominecchi." Kise whispered, his voice shaking a little before burying his face in the crook of his neck. Aomine wrapped his arms around him without even thinking, his fingers threading into soft golden locks of hair. He could feel Kise's uneven breathing against his neck and he felt his heart thundering inside his chest. He's not even sleepy anymore, but he shut his eyes tight.

He'd already promised not to hurt Kise again. And because of that promise, he couldn't say those words, not if he wasn't sure.

He wished he could become sure about them soon.

 **To be continued**

Well I did say there'd be lots of inappropriate use of body fluids. Also, men can in fact fake an orgasm, Kise you're supposed to be the one with the information damnit.

So how'd you guys like this smutty and fluffy chapter? I've just discovered my love for having Kise call Aomine all sorts of insults from "stupid" to "Neanderthal". I also love writing about Kise looking radiantly happy and how much Aomine loves seeing him like that.

I hope everyone who is not idiotically hung up over who gets the D in the A enjoyed this chapter, I'm very passionate about reversible Aokise after all *-* Please share your opinions with me folks! I'll try to get next chapter out… in early April? Won't make any promises though, sorry, I'm so grateful for your patience.


	10. Life isn't perfect

**Life isn't perfect, but your outfit can be**

The glare of the morning sun hit Aomine square on the face, awakening him.

"Shit." He groaned. "Why's that fucking curtain open?"

He received no response, but the slim body in his arms squirmed a little. He glanced down to find a fluffy blond mane tucked under his chin. Kise stirred slowly and pulled away slightly to look up at him, golden eyes hazy with sleep but sparkling with the sunlight that had broken into the room.

"Mornin', Aominecchi." He drawled drowsily, a smile pulling at the corners of his lips. For a moment, it was almost as if he were framed by the light, as if that warm radiance were actually coming from his smile, and Aomine found himself mesmerized by the sight.

"Morning, Sunshine." Aomine breathed without thinking, his heart thumping loudly in his chest. Kise's eyes widened and his face took on a bright red flush. Aomine inhaled sharply and hurried to untangle himself from the embrace, immediately missing the warmth. "W-we should take a shower at least, y'know, since we had the game yesterday 'n everything." He said quickly searching around the room for his boxers. Hopefully, Kise wouldn't be curious about his sudden interest in personal hygiene. "I-I'm gonna go first since you probably take forever." He added, not daring to look at Kise's eyes. He got no response, so he just paced down the hallway into the main bathroom. Aomine was used to having his own bath, so he felt slightly self-conscious about using the family bathroom. What if Kise's folks arrived and found him there? That'd be awkward.

He brushed those thoughts away (it was impossible after all) and ran the shower. He caught a glimpse of himself on the mirror and his eyes darted to the round purple hickey under his jawline. He felt his cheeks heat up. His lower back and buttocks were stinging and when he slipped his boxers off and turned around, he saw red scratch marks on his skin. He ran away from the mirror in embarrassment and rushed under the shower, even if it wasn't warm enough yet. He looked upwards to let the water fall on his face, hoping to wash the shame away. He couldn't let Kise see him feeling self-conscious about last night or he'd tease him about being a blushing virgin again.

It was weird, thinking about last night. Everything had felt so good and so right. Every kiss and touch, every time Kise laughed, every time he lost his breathe, every time a moan broke from Kise's mouth, every time their eyes met and his heart skipped a beat. Thinking of that made his chest flutter and warm. And when Kise had called him by his given name " _Daiki_ ", his voice trembling with desire, Aomine had felt himself melt, and his head had felt so light he'd actually called him "Ryouta" too and even that had felt right. His stomach felt heavy and overwhelmed with emotions he didn't quite understand yet.

Was he actually falling in love with Kise?

The thought gave him pause. He'd almost told Kise he loved him last night. He didn't feel like it would've been a lie if he'd said it. But at the same time, he couldn't help worry. How could he know these feelings were real? What if he was just so keen on reciprocating Kise's feelings that he'd actually managed to fool himself into believing he did? And what about Tetsu? He still loved him, and whatever he felt for Kise was certainly different from his feelings for Tetsu. He flexed his fingers slowly, trying to no avail to understand his own heart.

He shook his head. The water was growing too hot, so he took a step back and turned on the cold water. He wasn't gonna figure this out in the shower, and Kise would eat him alive if he spent too much time here after having mocked him for his neverending baths.

He ran his hand through his hair. When had he washed it last? Since this was the family bathroom, he figured he could find Kise's dad's shampoo and borrow some. He'd seen Kise's dad once, the man traveled a lot and wasn't home often, but he'd seemed like the kind of guy that didn't use fruity-flowery hair products. He grabbed a bottle that didn't have flower petals on it and tried to find any signs of this being closer to his preferred men's shampoo, but couldn't find any.

"Kyo-nee's shampoo would suit you better, you both have dry hair after all."

Aomine's soul exited his body for five seconds straight, and when he glanced at his back, he found Kise naked, his chin resting over his shoulder and his eyes fixed on the shampoo bottle. Aomine shivered when he became aware of the feeling of Kise's wet body so close to his own, his palms spread over his waist, and he caught sight of how the damp golden locks stuck to his face and framed his lively eyes. God, if his little friend decided to wake up now, Kise would never let him live it down.

"What the fuck?!" he managed to snarl.

Kise hummed pleasantly and reached for the shelf to search through the different bottles. "You were taking a while, so I thought this could be more time-efficient, since I wanna go shopping asap." He grabbed a green bottle and dangled it in front of Aomine's face. "This one. Just hear me out, this'll be great for your hair, I promise."

Aomine examined the bottle skeptically. "I don't really like this fruity stuff, can't I use your dad's?"

Kise seemed to ignore him and instead poured some of the shampoo on his palm. "Dad uses one for curly hair, it would be pointless for you. It's also orange berry, so it's still "fruity". You know, because many fruits have properties that are actually good for your hair."

He could sense Kise was mildly offended by his dissing of his hair products, and he couldn't really blame him. It was true that it was rather silly to get hung up on whether the shampoo had a fruity smell. He felt a little stupid for actually thinking a dumb shampoo was "girly" because of its scent.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to…" he cut himself off when he caught Kise pulling a stool into the shower.

"Don't mind, now sit and I'll give you a service." He said simply, rubbing the shampoo in his palms.

"Oi, I can wash my own hair."

Kise giggled. "C'mon, humor me for once. You're only reluctant 'cos no one's washed your hair for you before; I promise it feels real good."

Aomine wasn't very convinced, but Kise seemed to be rather eager about this, so he decided to comply without protesting any further. He sat down on the stool with his back to Kise, the water falling warm on his chest.

"Close your eyes, Aominecchi, you don't want to get shampoo in them." Kise instructed, his hands already spread over Aomine's head, fingers massaging his scalp. Aomine obeyed and immediately focused on the movement of Kise's fingers, how they rubbed small circles over his head rapidly, the shampoo turning to foam. This felt rather nice indeed. Warm. It reminded him of the kisses they'd shared in the movie theatre and in that back alley after fleeing from Kise's legion of fans. Intimate and special. A moment he couldn't have shared with anyone but Kise.

"This is green apple and avocado, it's gonna' leave your hair all soft and shiny." Kise was saying, his tone light and cheerful. To be honest, Aomine wouldn't have been able to tell if the shampoo truly smelled of that, it only felt like generic fruity stuff to him. "You know, it'd do you real good to use decent shampoo more often, you'll see when it's dry." He was scrubbing harshly, but it didn't really hurt. "If you want, I can help you find something that isn't so fruity if you don't like that smell so much. I actually like the flowery stuff better." His fingers were now rubbing above Aomine's ears. "You don't have to grab the crappiest shampoo in the pharmacy just because it says it's for manly men, your dick's not gonna fall off if you start taking more care of yourself."

Aomine snorted. "Got it, mom."

Kise dug his fingernails on his nape, close to the hairline. "You don't have to do it if you don't want to, it was just a suggestion." He clarified bitterly.

Aomine sighed. "Alright, if this actually does work I'll let you choose me a decent shampoo, happy now?"

He could almost see Kise bounce excitedly. "Yay!" he said happily, gently pushing Aomine's head under the showerspray to rinse off the foam. His fingers now softer, stretching and flexing all over his scalp. Aomine hummed contented as he felt the soapy water streaming down his forehead. He rubbed his eyes a couple of times to make sure he didn't get any shampoo in. Kise then pulled him back away from the shower, and the back of his head leaned against Kise's lower torso.

"All done." Kise declared, although he was still massaging his scalp slowly.

Aomine opened his eyes and looked up to meet Kise's big satisfied grin. Why did it make him so happy to do something so simple? Aomine couldn't really understand it.

"You're good at this." He observed casually.

Kise's grin didn't falter one bit. "Mom and Miyo-nee ask me to do it for them all the time. They say I have magic fingers."

"They're not wrong."

Kise blushed and finally withdrew his fingers, much to Aomine's displeasure. He recovered quickly and stood up to be eye-to-eye with Kise.

"I'll do it for you too." He said with determination. He was starting to get frustrated by the fact that Kise always seemed to be the one making him feel good, while he barely managed to do anything for Kise to that effect.

Kise cocked his head. "Do what?"

Aomine hated him. "Wash your hair."

Kise grinned brightly again. "I appreciate the sentiment, but it's not necessary, I already washed my hair yesterday morning."

"Huh? Don't you wash it every day? I thought you were civilized or something." He teased with a mocking smirk.

Kise wasn't fazed by it. "Of course I'm civilized, which is why I know that using shampoo every day is bad for your hair. If you put too many chemical products on it it's gonna fall off, sheesh. How do you even mingled with _homo sapiens_ is completely beyond me, Aominecchi."

Aomine scowled. "I fucking hate you." He snarled, suddenly grabbing the back of Kise's head and pulling him forward to mesh their mouths together angrily. Kise jolted, but eventually smiled into the kiss, his hands resting leisurely on Aomine's chest. Aomine's free hand circled around Kise's waist and dipped down to fondle his smooth butt. Kise stood on his tiptoes and pulled back for a moment to laugh, Aomine took the opportunity to thrust his tongue inside Kise's mouth. He could feel his dick beginning to stir, and he knew he should put a stop to this before they were past the point of no return, but he couldn't bring himself to pull away.

It was Kise who broke it off with a chuckle.

"Stop tempting me, Aominecchi, I know you're just doing this so you don't have to go shopping with me."

Aomine blushed. That hadn't been his intention at all, but he didn't know how to say that he was actually sort of excited about this sort-of-date that wouldn't make him want to be swallowed by the Earth.

"Am not." He said instead and rubbed his face with water one last time. "I'm stepping out, don't stay here forever if you're not even washing your hair."

"Yessir!" Kise beamed taking his place under the waterspray and ruffling his soaking locks. Aomine shut the sliding door close and grabbed a towel to wrap it around his midsection and another one to ruffle his hair and drape it across his shoulders. He climbed up the stairs and searched around for his jeans and t-shirt. The former were okay to wear them again, but even a "Neanderthal" like him wouldn't wear that sweaty t-shirt two days in a row. He'd have to borrow something from Kise.

He sat on the edge of the disheveled bed and pulled out his wallet. He had promised he'd buy Kise a new shirt, but he couldn't help worry about Kise's fashionable tastes and how compatible they might be with his budget. He sighed, already prepared to bid his allowance goodbye. He'd heard other guys complaining about how they spent all their money on their girlfriends, and realized the last three months of his allowance had all gone to his dates with Kise. The thought didn't quite bother him. Maybe if things continued like this, they'd naturally transition into actual boyfriends. His heart felt at ease with that idea. For months now he'd been constantly worrying about _when_ this whole thing would collapse and how much damage it would leave in its wake. But after last night, he felt optimistic. Maybe he _could_ fall in love with Kise, and then everything would fall into place by itself.

"Geez Aominecchi, how many hours is it gonna' take you to get dressed?"

Kise's merry voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

"My shirt from yesterday's all sweaty, I'm just saving you the embarrassment of being seen with a guy wearing the same clothes two days in a row." He drawled, very aware that it would be a terrible idea to take a look at Kise's wet and hot just-out-of-the-shower figure.

Kise seemed surprised by the consideration. "Oh!" he gasped and immediately went to rummage through his closet. "I can lend you something I guess. Though Aominecchi's shoulders are broader than mine, so it'll be hard to actually find something that fits you."

He could hear shuffling fabric noises for a minute, then a soft "Ah!" which finally made him turn to see what on earth was happening. Kise's head poked out from the closet holding a sleeveless black shirt that definitely looked too small for Aomine. Without even blinking, he grabbed it by the collar, close to the armhole and pulled until the fabric was torn a little, then repeated the procedure next to the other armhole. Aomine's eyes widened so much he felt they'd fall out of their sockets. Kise, destroying his own clothes?

"Oi, oi, hold on, you're not gonna have me buy you a replacement for that one too."

Kise looked up at him as if he'd forgotten he was there and cocked his head as if he thought Aomine was an idiot. "Of course not! I haven't worn this in a while and this way we don't have to worry about Aominecchi's arms not fitting. With these small tears it should fit you just fine." He explained, stretching it to prove his point. "Purposefully torn clothes are a little too 2014 for my liking, but no one expects Aominecchi to be caught up with fashion anyway."

Aomine wanted to punch his beautiful face for even daring to speak that phrase, but he swallowed that urge. He rewarded himself for his self-control by taking a peek at Kise (who was still wearing nothing but the fluffy towel around his waist) and following the path of a stray drop of water down his smooth milky back and disappearing in the slope of his butt. He smiled a little for himself. What a very nice thing to look at indeed.

Kise threw the torn black shirt at his face. "Stop staring or your eyes are gonna fall off, pervert." He mumbled, surprisingly bashful before disappearing into his closet again. Aomine shook his head and put the shirt on. It was a little tight, but the tears on the shoulder line actually did help in making it stretch over his broad back without feeling too constricting. Apparently Kise possessed a wide range of random but occasionally useful knowledge about extremely trivial things.

A few minutes passed with no sound other than the ruffling of clothes and occasional unintelligible mumbles. Aomine didn't want to admit how curious he was to see what outfit Kise would choose for today. He did have a great sense when it came to dressing himself, which Aomine had much appreciated in all their previous dates. He blushed remembering the short shorts and skinny black boots he'd worn the night they went to the movies, or how pretty much all of his jeans seemed to be made to perfectly fit the roundness of his butt, or how his face seemed brighter when he'd worn that yellow hoodie.

Once again he was pulled out of his thoughts when Kise pranced out of the closet, his steps light, almost as if he were dancing. Aomine looked up, and his jaw nearly dropped to the ground. Kise didn't miss it, and there was a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Y-you're, th-that's a…" Aomine pointed, feeling like a complete idiot.

"Yes, I know it's a skirt, Aominecchi." Kise stated teasingly. "Like it?" he asked, twirling flirtatiously.

Aomine had never seen Kise wearing a skirt, and he now regretted it dearly. The black pleated skirt went from Kise's belly button and ended right above his knee, giving his body an alluring shape. Aomine was starting to wonder if he'd ever reach the end of those legs when he found Kise's naked feet touching the ground. He was also wearing a white sleeveless top, with a white ribbon to the left side of the neck, tucked loosely into the skirt. When he twirled, the hem of the skirt flew just a little bit, making him look light, almost as if he were floating in the air. His radiant smile was just the perfect accessory to make Aomine wonder if he wasn't dreaming. One person shouldn't be allowed to look so gorgeous.

"C'mon Aominecchi, I made myself so cute, the least you can do i—"

"I do. Like it, I mean." Aomine's face was burning. "You look… good." More like breathtakingly beautiful, but Aomine was never going to say that. Kise seemed satisfied with that because his smile brightened even further –if that was even possible- and he skipped towards him to grab his hand and pull him up.

"I'll just put on my make-up and we can go, okay?" he said as he tugged Aomine towards the bathroom. Aomine followed without protesting, leaning against the doorframe when Kise stepped in front of the mirror and started pulling random items out of a black pouch.

"Before you even ask, even beautiful people such as myself enjoy looking fabulous and enhancing our beauty." Kise sentenced as he smeared cream over his face.

He was probably talking about Aomine's question last night, which he hadn't really gotten to answer before things got steamy. Aomine shrugged. He thought Kise was already very handsome without any make-up, but he had to admit that the sharper curve of his eyes and the flirtatious flutter of his eyelashes, or the way his cheekbones caught the light when he'd dolled himself up was very nice to look at too.

"I guess I get that…" he mused, watching intently as Kise drew a narrow black line over his eyelid with liquid eyeliner. "But if you're such a crybaby, why don't you use water-proof make-up?"

Kise's hand almost faltered, and Aomine reckoned his indignant huff was as much anger at the question as it was about how close he'd been to mess up.

"Aominecchi , remember when our teachers told us "there are no stupid questions"?" Kise asked, finishing the line of his eye with a light flick of the wrist, the elongation making his eyes look bigger. Aomine nodded. "Well, it was a lie. That's the _stupidest_ question ever." He continued, now producing a tube from which he extracted a small black brush, which he brought close to his eyes too. "Water-proof make-up's durable, but it's terrible! It's got lots of awful chemicals, that's what keeps it from falling off. I have sensitive skin, it'd totally get ruined if I used that crap. I wear it for photoshoots just so the make-up doesn't get smudged with sweat, but any sensible person would avoid it like the plague it is." He capped the brush again and put it back in the pouch before turning to look at Aomine. "This is a lot nicer and it has a fresh, more natural look." He batted his eyelashes at him playfully, and Aomine could tell they looked longer than before, making a stark frame for Kise's bright golden eyes. Kise turned away to check himself out at the mirror, standing on his tiptoes so he could look at his own eyes from upclose. "I can never compete with Midorimacchi in this department, but no one could say I'm not trying." He said absentmindedly. "It's seriously unfair that his are so perfect, if I didn't know him I'd even think he's wearing fakes." He sighed and stepped away from the mirror, taking two strides to reach Aomine's side.

"Let's go, there are many shops I wanna visit!" he chirped, blinking quickly as if to show off the results of his careful work. He clasped Aomine's hand tightly in his as he pulled him towards the door.

Aomine was never going to say that he didn't think Midorima was any competition for Kise in terms of appearance, but he allowed himself to dwell on that thought for a second. Kise always put so much effort in beautifying himself –even if he didn't really need it-, it was no surprise he was so good at it. Kise grinned at him brightly, his big eyes sparkling with the sunlight. Aomine felt his lips curl up to a smile and allowed himself to be dragged. Everything felt so right.

* * *

The fastest way to Landmark Plaza was to take a bus just two blocks away from Kise's house. It'd take twenty-five minutes, which usually felt very short, but this time it felt like it lasted an eternity. Maybe it was because of how impatient he was to start actually shopping, or maybe it was because he was sitting next to Aominecchi, their hands casually laced together and his life couldn't possibly be more perfect. He was so excited he couldn't stop swinging his legs. Aominecchi glanced at him with a quirked eyebrow.

"You look like a kid going on a school trip." He noted, amused.

Kise wasn't remotely fazed by that. Nothing could ruin his good mood today.

"Going shopping with Aominecchi is in my top 5 dream dates after all."

Aomine cocked his head. "You actually have a list for that?"

"Of course I do! There are so many things I want to do with Aominecchi."

Aomine had not been expecting that answer, and he blushed and looked away in response. Kise thought that was cute, but he knew it'd just make Aominecchi more flustered, so he kept the thought to himself. Aomine ran his hand through his hair before leaning back against his seat.

"I almost forgot to ask." Kise began, leaning in a little closer to bump their shoulders together. "How's your hair?" He was honestly doing the best he could to keep from reaching out and feeling it for himself. Of course wearing a good shampoo once wasn't going to solve all of Aominecchi's hair problems magically, but he was certain there would be enough improvement to dissipate any doubts about the benefits of actually taking some care of himself.

Aomine seemed to consider it for a moment, then he ran his hand though his head one more time, frowning. Kise watched him expectantly, even as he did two, three more times before sighing in defeat.

" _Fine_ , you win, it does feel kind of better." He conceded with a huff, averting his gaze one more time.

Kise beamed and pressed against Aomine further still. "See? Totally told you. I'll find you the right shampoo and it's gonna change your life, I guarantee! There's a big pharmacy not too far from Landmark, we can go there."

"Hold on, hold on." Aomine shoved him away lightly, his cheeks flushed. "My budget can only suffer your shirt or the shampoo, pick one or the other."

Kise sat back on his seat, a little dejected. "Okay…" he sighed, disappointed. "I actually intended to buy you the shampoo with _my_ hard-earned money" he paused, waiting for that to sink in "but it's true we wouldn't have enough time to do a proper search and find my shirt. Oh well…" he smiled a little. At least this gave him an excuse to… "We'll just have to set up another date to buy Aominecchi's shampoo!"

Aomine seemed taken aback by the quick turnaround, but he finally met Kise's eyes and shrugged, the smallest of smiles tugging at the corners of his lips.

* * *

The first shop was H&M. Kise wasn't much a fan of the brand, but they had good discounts and a handful of cool stuff here and there. Besides, he thought it might be good to start with a place that wasn't too expensieve and was relatively well-known so that it wouldn't intimidate Aominecchi too much. Kise skimmed through the racks, looking for something nice and that would look good on him. He picked a handful of t-shirts and some jeans from the men's section, then earned himself some curious looks when he moved on to the women's aisle and started eyeing the tank tops and blouses. From the corner of his eye he noticed two store attendants arguing over who should come and tell him he was in the wrong section. Luckily they seemed to desist on the idea, either because they didn't dare or because they saw he was wearing a skirt and realized he was exactly in the aisle he wanted to be. Kise rolled his eyes. It was completely beyond his comprehension why having a dick should forbid him from wearing that super damned cute strapless green and white striped top.

"Oi, didn't I tell you that I just have money for the one shirt?" Aominecchi screeched alarmed when he saw the sizable pile of clothes hanging over Kise's arm.

Kise didn't mind him and skipped towards the changing booth. "I know, I know, geez, you look like you just saw a ghost." He chirped joyfully before closing the curtain. He decided to try on a pair of faded jeans and a white t-shirt with a smokey-looking skull. He checked himself out on the full-body mirror, not too convinced with the look. He shrugged and stepped out of the changing room, to find Aominecchi sitting on the bench outside. Kise's heart fluttered.

"How do I look?" he asked, a hand to his hip.

"Fine, I guess." Was the immediate reply.

Kise scowled. "That's literally the one thing you should never say when someone asks for your opinion!" he squawked with indignation. "If I'm asking it means I want to know what you think!"

Aomine seemed hesitant for a moment, but then looked him over, his brows slightly scrunched as if he was giving the question some serious thought. Kise smiled a little. Aominecchi was an idiot, but he was a quick-learner and overly willing to make things more enjoyable for everyone. Kise thought that was adorable and that not many people got to appreciate this side of Aominecchi. He felt just a little bit lucky.

"I think…" he doubted for a moment. "it doesn't really suit you."

Kise looked down at the look and smiled. "Yeah, I thought so too. I don't really like this shirt to be honest."

"Why'd you try on something you don't like?"

Kise huffed. "You never know! Even if it doesn't look that good on the rack, it might look awesome when you try it on!" Aominecchi was so ignorant of so many basic things of life.

"Okay, okay, but why are you trying jeans on when you're just buying a shirt?"

Kise would've pulled at his hair if not for the fact that it would've ruined all the time he'd spent fixing his bedhead this morning. "Trying clothes on is FUN. _And_ trying different looks helps me get an idea of what kind of combinations I can do with whatever shirt I end up choosing." He stepped into the changing room again, without explaining everything else. They'd come this far, might as well put on a nice show and model a few things for Aominecchi. His friend may not have feelings for him (yet? He really wanted to end that thought with a 'yet'), but he was certainly not immune to Kise's physical allure. Of course, Kise wouldn't tell him that because Aominecchi would feel uncomfortable if he did, no matter how much he actually enjoyed the show.

He stepped out wearing tight dark jeans, the cute strapless top, and a baggy cream-colored cardigan that was a lot lighter and softer than it seemed.

"How 'bout this one?" he asked, twirling a little to show off how good these jeans worked for his legs. He pulled down the cardigan a bit to show his bare shoulders and collarbones, and noticed Aominecchi swallowing hard. He briefly wondered if it would be too terrible to end this date making out in a public bathroom.

"That looks pretty." Aominecchi mumbled, so fast and so low Kise almost missed it.

Kise beamed. "I know right?! I love strapless tops." He took off the cardigan completely and twirled a bit more. "Although I'm not a fan of the colors, red or pink would be better." He could think of many different combinations he could do with this top.

"They are kind of muted." Aomine chimed in. "It's almost summer, you probably won't be able to wear it for a while because it has long sleeves." He added.

"Huh." Kise hummed. He'd never expected Aominecchi to take it so seriously and try to give actual, helpful advice. "Hadn't thought of that." He admitted. "It has a good price, so this can be a nice option to begin with, I'd just have to wear it a lot in the next few weeks before the heat comes in." Many said fashion required sacrifices and suffering, but Kise was completely against that idea. If you can't show your best smile because your clothes are ruining your day, was it really worth it? Not to him. "By the way, what's our budget?"

Aomine looked slightly mortified by the question. "H-how much was that other shirt?" he asked, his fingers already fiddling with the hem of the pocket where he carried his wallet.

"Dunno. It was a gift from my agency." That was a lie, but Aominecchi was never going to be able to afford a 9000 yen shirt and Kise didn't want to make him feel bad about it. A big price was not necessarily proportional to quality, some of his favorite clothes he'd gotten for less than three thousand anyway.

"Then why isn't your agency buying you a new one?"

"Because they didn't ruin it. Also, I'm not working for them anymore, remember?"

Aomine sighed, his expression betraying how worried he was about the money issue.

"It's okay, today's a sale, I'm sure we'll find something for 2000 yen or less." Kise said, already crossing out some shops he wanted to visit from his mental list. Even if he hadn't thought of getting something expensive, he didn't want Aomine to feel pressured if he suddenly found himself surrounded by bigger price-tags. After all, this was basically a date, so the whole point was that both of them could have fun.

"I can do four."

"Eh?"

"I can afford four thousand, but not a penny more or I'll have to walk back to Tokyo. I did screw up that nice shirt of yours."

Kise's eyes widened.

"Aominecchi, you're the best!" he squealed, his face warm with happiness as he threw his arms around Aomine's neck and planted a smooch on his cheek.

Aomine blushed and shoved him away. "You're gonna get those clothes dirty and there's no way I can pay for them." He said, his cheeks clearly burning.

"Yessir!" Kise beamed, rushing back to the changing room.

* * *

Aomine stopped at the entrance of the next shop.

"Uhm, Kise…"

Kise was halfway through the door already, so he barely tilted his head back to make eye-contact. "What's up?"

Aomine pointed at the sign with the name of the shop. "You know English is not my best subject, but it clearly says 'ladies' fashion' up there" he noted.

Kise rolled his eyes. "Aominecchi, you do realize I'm wearing a skirt." He pinched the hem with his fingers and lifted it _just_ enough to show a bit more thigh. A little for emphasis, but mostly because he enjoyed the way Aomine's face burned when his eyes caught that extra inch of skin. "I'd thought that should clue you in on how little I care about men's or women's clothes. If it's cute and looks good on me I'll wear it. A silly 'ladies' sign is not gonna get in the way of me and that cute striped top." He declared, pointing at a short-sleeved white and blue striped blouse that looked wonderful on that manequin. Maybe it was because of how often he'd gone shopping with his sisters in childhood, but the mere notion of separating clothes by gender was so absurd to him. He had to remind himself of being a little patient with Aomine "I only use manly man shampoo" Daiki, he was already putting in quite an effort in coming with him on this little adventure.

Aominecchi seemed slightly uncertain about it, but he finally shrugged and followed Kise into the shop, although his expression showed he was still feeling like a fish out of water.

"Don't you ever go shopping with Momocchi?" Kise asked, curious. He figured Aomine had been dragged to Momoi's mall quests more than once, considering how much she trusted him.

"What? Satsuki? The only way I'd go waste half my life in a clothing store with her would be if she dragged my dead body there. 'Sides, she has friends who're obviously more fun to go with for that kind of thing and she says I have terrible taste."

He looked like the sole thought was bewildering. Kise felt the small pull of a smile at the corners of his lips. He knew it was silly; stupid, even, but it felt even more special that Aominecchi had actually volunteered to come with him today. He wondered just how many more things Aominecchi did with him and him only. He rushed to grab the cute top he'd liked and hide in the dressing room, because the flutter in his belly was growing unbearable.

* * *

Aomine had heard many of his classmates bemoaning whenever their girlfriends dragged them on shopping trips. "She just has to try _every_ _damn thing_ on. Once I suggested she just picked something and went straight to pay for it and she reacted like I'd insulted her mother!" someone had said. At the time, Aomine had thought that sounded crazy, and was secretly grateful that he didn't have to deal with that bullshit, but now he couldn't quite understand what those guys were complaining about. Sure it was tiresome to be hopping from store to store (they'd been doing this for two hours already and Kise still had three billion shops he wanted to check out, apparently) and a little scary to see the price tags, but it seemed rather strange that other guys would be so reluctant to see their girlfriends putting on nice clothes and showing them off. Perhaps he was biased, considering that Kise looked so good with pretty much any clothes (or _without_ them, but he couldn't let his mind go there right now), but those guys were supposed to like their girlfriends, weren't they? Why was it so bothersome for them to see the girls they liked dressing up? It didn't make quite a lot of sense.

"That blouse looked _so_ good on the mannequin." Kise moaned, dragging his feet out of Talbots. "Stupid broad shoulders." He mumbled spitefully. Apparently, the long-sleeved red striped blouse he'd tried on was too tight on his shoulders and made him look thicker than he actually was. Or something like that. All Aomine had thought was that the style looked too mature for Kise. He'd never thought he'd hear Kise complaining about his own body, but apparently pre-established beauty standards could damage even the biggest of egos.

"Your broad shoulders give you a wider range to make shots on the court, I would kick your ass in a blink if you didn't have them." He heard himself saying before he could give it any thought. It _was_ true, but that didn't change how embarrassed he was to make such an obvious attempt at cheering his friend up.

Kise looked up at him and his face brightened. Aomine's chest felt lighter, but he said nothing else.

After climbing up to the next floor, Kise grabbed one of his hands with both of his and pulled him towards a new, much bigger store with the name Banana Republic on the marquee. He skipped into the store happily. Aomine couldn't help thinking that was a weird and kind of dumb name for a clothing store. Why would you name it after a fruit? And what did the name even mean? A country with a banana president? How was that somehow supposed to communicate that they sold cool clothes? Kise would probably call him an uncultured swine if he mentioned that, so he kept the thought to himself.

"They have really neat stuff here, but I honestly think the name of the shop is very stupid."

Aomine looked up, surprised, to see Kise grinning mischievously as he pressed his index fingers to his lips, like a kid that was caught breaking the rules and was hoping to get away with it regardless. Aomine grinned too. It was a silly thing, but for some reason he liked knowing they agreed on that. It made him feel they had more in common outside of basketball, a thought he found very pleasant, for inexplicable reasons.

He didn't say anything else as he followed Kise through the racks of clothes and watched him pick some shirts and blouses.

"What do you think about this one?" Kise asked absentmindedly, showing him a baggy orange top with short sleeves and a wide neck. The color was bright and it looked like it would look good on Kise's skin, but Aomine didn't know how to say that in a way that wouldn't embarrass himself, but would also be acceptable for Kise.

"It's, uh, the color's cool."

"It is, right? But I like the blue one too, I don't know which one's best." Kise mused, holding both tops in his hands and alternating to place them over his torso without actually putting them on ("it's to get an idea on how it looks! You can discard some things if you see right away that they don't match you" Kise had argued two hours ago).

"You're gonna end up trying both of them on, so why are you wasting time doing that?" Aomine sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. The truth was he wouldn't be able to decide which one looked better since both seemed to highlight different traits of Kise's body –the orange, his skin; the blue, his eyes-, one more thing he didn't dare to say.

Kise frowned at him briefly, but conceded anyway. "I guess you're right." He huffed, grabbing one of each and continuing along the store.

Aomine followed him wordlessly, but his eye was caught by a forest green, short-sleeved t-shirt with a small breastpocket and a very fresh looking fabric. It looked like it flowed lightly on the mannequin's body, effortlessly. He kind of wanted to see Kise try it on, but he couldn't bring himself to admit to that either. What if Kise didn't like it? He'd already said he thought Aomine had shit taste for clothes, so probably the things Aomine thought were cool wouldn't seem so for Kise. He sighed, a little disappointed.

"Oi, Aominecchi, if you find cute stuff you gotta tell me, what if I miss out on something amazing because you're not reporting to me properly?" Kise chided him, appearing by his side all of a sudden and picking one of those t-shirts from the rack. "C'mon, I've got all this stuff to try on and I can't make a decision if you don't help me." He added, tugging on Aomine's sleeve to bring him to the changing rooms before he could respond to any of that. He gave up, once again allowing himself to be dragged, and just smiled.

* * *

"So the green one and the orange one are actually really good possibilities. The price was pretty good too. I like both of them more than the green-and-white one we saw at H&M too."

Aomine had no idea of exactly how many "options" Kise had at this point. With few exceptions, every time they exited a shop he'd start musing about how this or that were "a good option". Not that he was wrong, technically, since all of those "options" looked amazing on him, but Aomine didn't quite understand why he couldn't just choose one at once. He wasn't complaining though, he was kind of enjoying the impromptu fashion shows. Kise had worn the green t-shirt with a pair of white jeans that had ocre red swirls on the back pockets and fuck, he'd looked perfect. He'd almost suggested that he buy that one and be done with it, but he wanted Kise to be the one to make the decision. Aomine _had_ ruined his shirt –apparently a _very_ nice one- after all, he didn't want Kise to settle for something he didn't like that much just to please him.

"Do you actually remember all of those options?" he asked, curious.

Kise blinked at him and cocked his head. "Of course. I'd never forget a t-shirt as pretty as that one. Right now I'm trying to establish a ranking, but it's very difficult, see. The green one from Banana Republic is in my top five, but so is the one with the big polka dots and stripes from Weekend and the black one with the cut-out shoulders we saw in H&M. It'd be super hard to choose one of those if I don't find something that completely blows me away."

Aomine decided he was wasting his life trying to make sense of such a complicated method, and instead allowed himself to feel a little proud to know the t-shirt he liked was in Kise's top five, whatever purpose that served.

The next stop was at another Ladies' Fashion shop, but this was the fifth they visited today, so Aomine did no longer bother pointing it out. Kise did look and feel beautiful in both men's and women's clothing after all, and that was what really mattered.

Suddenly, Kise bolted from where he was standing right next to him, and reappeared next to a mannequin wearing a white short-sleeved t-shirt with feathers printed over the right side in black outline. He grabbed the edge of the t-shirt with his thumb and index and rubbed it to feel it, his expression brightening.

"Oh my god, Aominecchi, have you seen this?! It's so beautiful!"

The top was indeed very beautiful, even if it was incredibly simple. Maybe this would be the chosen one? Kise looked really excited about it, and at first glance it seemed like it had just the right shape to fit his body. Aomine wondered if Kise had already discarded all the other options from his mind as he nearly floated towards the changing rooms.

"Excuse me, sir."

Kise stopped in his tracks when one of the shop attendants stood in his way.

"Yes?"

The saleswoman looked rather troubled, as if this was the first time she had to deal with whatever situation this was. Aomine frowned lightly. He had a bad feeling about this.

"My sincerest apologies, but I'm afraid I can't let you through."

Kise quirked an eyebrow. Aomine could see the irritation in his posture, as if he already knew what the saleswoman was about to tell him and he were ready to tell her to fuck off for whatever it was, but instead, he took a deep breath and looked at her impassively.

"And why is that?" he asked slowly, his tone leveled and calm, although it would be impossible to miss the dangerous edge in his voice.

"This is a ladies' changing room." The woman explained, clearly growing more conflicted by the minute.

"I understand. Would you be so kind as to show me to the men's changing room then?" Kise asked, the cutting edge of his voice became even sharper.

The woman's fingers twitched nervously. It didn't take a genius to predict what she was going to say now. Aomine felt himself growing irritated too, and he took a step forward to stand closer to Kise.

"I must regretfully say we don't have changing rooms for men in this shop."

Aomine could almost feel it, the blood boiling in Kise's veins. It was as if he'd known how this conversation would go from the start, and getting his predictions confirmed only worsened his ire.

"In that case, the only option is that you let me through, isn't it?" the mellow tone of his voice was slowly dissipating into pure venom. Aomine knew it without having to ask, this was not the first time this happened.

"Like I said, sir, this is a ladies' changing room, so I can't possibly let you in."

"And how am I supposed to decide if I want to buy any of your items if I can't try them on first?"

That's when the saleswoman's patience started to crack too. "My apologies, sir, but we only sell clothes for women. You are absolutely free to purchase any of our items and I would be happy to help you find something for any of the wonderful ladies in your life, but I'm afraid we can not allow you personally to try on our clothes."

Aomine had had enough. "Are you stupid?" he spat, stepping in front of Kise. "The fuck is with that completely idiotic policy, don't you want to sell your stupid clothes?"

"Like I sai—"

"Are you even looking at this guy?" he pointed at Kise, not wanting to hear anything more from the saleswoman. "He's a _model_ and he's fucking gorgeous. I'd bet he could make your shittiest t-shirt look amazing, and you'd have loads of girls and guys wanting to buy it. But you won't let him try something on just because he's a guy? It's fucking stupid! Why is it that this t-shirt is only for girls, huh? Is it the feathers? Or the white? Is there any law that says only women are allowed to wear white? Do you see how fucking idiotic that sounds?!"

He gritted his teeth. Kise had been so happy all day long and this stupid shop was ruining it. He'd liked that t-shirt so much and now he was getting so upset about it. Aomine couldn't possibly forgive them for it.

"I'm really sorry, sir, but this is the company's policy, there's nothing I can do about it."

Aomine snatched the t-shirt from Kise's hands and slammed it on the counter. "That's your fucking loss then." He spat, angrily, and grabbed Kise's wrist to pull him out of the store. Kise didn't say a word and just followed behind him. Aomine noticed the tension seemed to have eased off of him for unknown reasons, but he didn't give it any second thought.

"Aominecchi was too rude to that poor girl. It's not her fault that the store has stupid policies."

He sighed and turned to look at Kise. In spite of his words, he was smiling. It was an odd kind of smile, it still had that twinge of anger and disappointment, but it was also bright with satisfaction.

"I know, I know. I just… you really liked that t-shirt, so I got pissed off. Any brand with two-working brain-cells should be honored to have you wearing their shit." Had the woman not seen what Kise was wearing? To think that the world could have been deprived of the wonderful sight of Kise wearing that black skirt if the designer had decided to be a prick about gendering their clothes. And more importantly, he couldn't stand seeing Kise so upset. He was almost certain that Kise would've bought that t-shirt if the store wasn't so stupid about its gender restrictions.

Just as it begun to dawn on him all the embarrassing things he'd just said, Kise tugged his wrist free of Aomine's grasp to lace their fingers together and he skipped forward lightly to press a quick peck on his cheek. Aomine's face burned.

"Hehe, right now I'm happier about Aominecchi defending my honor."

* * *

Kise was trying to play it cool, he really was, but in fact he was melting inside and he couldn't bring himself to look at Aomine straight in the face, for he knew for sure his cheeks were as red as Akashicchi's hair. Aominecchi had actually called him 'gorgeous', out loud and the look in his eyes and the tone in his voice had been so raw and sincere, as if he was speaking and undeniable truth.

Of course, he already knew Aominecchi thought he was attractive, he'd known it for a while. Even if he'd had any doubts about it before today, there would be none left, given how Aominecchi had been looking at him all day, how his eyes scanned Kise's figure with every new outfit he tried on, how he looked away, his cheeks dusted pink, to mumble the clothes looked good on him, the little smiles when Kise twirled to show off the outfits he liked most. But knowing through observation was very different from hearing it straight from Aominecchi's mouth and with such absolute, unquestionable certainty. His heart was fluttering inside his chest. He squeezed Aominecchi's hand and felt Aomine squeeze back.

He remembered their last date, when they'd gone to the movies in Ikebukuro, how perfect everything had felt that day, and how happy he'd been until he'd realized none of it had been real. But what if it had? What if those magical, intimate sparks he'd felt hadn't been in his imagination? He'd been feeling them today too, and last night, when they were tangled in each other, their bodies melting into one, and this morning, when Aominecchi had called him 'Sunshine', his voice soft and tender, and the wet, sloppy kisses they'd shared in the shower. Had Aominecchi felt them too? Wasn't all this too good, too perfect to be real?

"Oi, are you even listening to me?"

He finally turned around to meet Aominecchi's inquisitive gaze.

"You've had this ridiculous spaced out expression for like five minutes straight."

Kise's heart hiccupped with embarrassment. "Rude, Aominecchi!" he quipped weakly.

"I was just saying you should try to at least look more upset about that stupid shop's bullshit."

A smile grew on Kise's lips. "I don't really care about it anymore."

Aomine sighed, "Geez, you're unbelievable. C'mon, you still have like, what, ten million shops left on your list? I do wanna' get this done with before next month."

"It's only three more shops!"

Aominecchi smiled, that pure unguarded smile that he didn't show very often and Kise grinned back at him, his chest swelling with warmth.

 **To be continued**

This is another one that had to be split in half because it became too long hahaha orz. I'm really sorry for the gross delay everyone, I've been so busy.

Kise is flawless in a skirt and I'll fight anyone who has anything to say about it. All the clothes described are based on real ones from the shops mentioned (all of which do exist in Landmark Plaza Yokohama because I am obsessive about meaningless details). Y'all have no idea of how much I struggled to choose something for Kise, but you'll see next chapter, I came up with something good. Also, I didn't purposefully try and force Kise to wear "women's" clothes, but all the online shops I checked had very boring stuff in the "men's" section and I'm very into the idea of Kise slaying with any clothes he puts on. I liked playing that off, especially with Aomine whom I imagine to be a very stereotypical Japanese teen boy with a fragile masculinity (he's learning, be patient with him). I also really enjoyed writing about Aomine lavishing Kise with affection and compliments, especially because he does it without thinking most of the time. He's so enchanted by Kise at this point, poor boy, he's just not completely wrapped his head around his feelings yet, and he wants to do right by Kise, not take a rash decision that could end up hurting them both.

Sorry for the ramble. Even if I didn't write much this past month, I had a lot of feelings about this fic while I was away, and I've actually outlined a lot of scenes from future chapters in advance, I'm very excited to share that with you. I'm infinitely grateful for your patience and I really hope you're still enjoying this story, even with disgustingly fluffy chapters like this one. Please let me her your thoughts about it!


	11. but your outfit can be

**Life isn't perfect, but your outfit can be (Part 2: Not that it'll matter)**

"Oh my _god_ , Aominecchi, can we go in, can we? Pleeeease!"

They were on the way to the next shop on the list, when Kise had suddenly stopped dead on his tracks and started squealing. Aomine turned to look at whatever was the cause for such excitement. He almost rolled his eyes when he spotted the sign on the marquee.

POKEMON CENTER YOKOHAMA

"Really?" he asked, more to himself than to Kise, who was already rushing inside the shop. Aomine felt he'd somehow been ambushed into this situation. There was no way Kise didn't know they'd be passing this shop. Kise's feigned surprise was entirely unfunny.

"Look, look Aominecchi, isn't this super cute?!" Kise exclaimed, holding a large Pikachu plushie that didn't look particularly different to any other Pikachu Aomine had seen before. Kise obviously didn't share that sentiment, since his cheeks had blossomed in light pink and his golden eyes were sparkling with joy. Aomine shrugged, completely disarmed by the unbridled brightness of his expression.

"Remind me to come up with an excuse to visit Akashicchi soon, they just opened a Pokemon Center in Kyoto and some of the exclusive merch is adorable." Kise was saying as he picked up a different plushie and squeezed it happily.

Aomine was most certainly going to forget about it, but he nodded anyway. He'd never been to one of this shops before –he'd seen it from the outside only, on the day of the Pikachu parade, and at that time, even Kise had conceded that it was too crowded to try and force their way inside-, but he'd always imagined they'd be as much of a game center as they were a hobby shop, so he was surprised to see that wasn't the case.

The Pokemon fad had kind of flown over his head. It had been super popular when he was in elementary, and his parents had bought him one of the games, but he'd gotten bored pretty quickly. He just didn't like turn-based fight games, they were annoying. Satsuki, on the other hand, was a _huge_ fan, so he'd somehow stayed marginally up to date with it and maybe he could name around a dozen Pokemons including Pikachu, Orange Pikachu, Small Pikachu, and Other Small Pikachu. He had a feeling that maybe he shouldn't try to flaunt such knowledge in front of Kise, who was probably very passionate about what was a Pikachu and what wasn't.

Kise was, by the way, showing him the millionth Pikachu plushie and squealing about how cute it was (this one was disguised as a different Pokemon, Aomine didn't understand what was the point of that) when a thought occurred to him.

"You seem to like those stuffed animals a lot but I haven't seen any in your room." He pointed out. Until that day at Minato Mirai he hadn't known how much Kise liked Pokemon, but now that he did it was rather puzzling to think there was not a single Pikachu plushie in Kise's bedroom.

"Uhm…." Kise squeezed the plushie he was holding absentmindedly. "I think they're really cute, but if I bought one I wouldn't know what to do with it or where to put it." He put the plushie back on the shelf and fished in the pocket of his skirt. "I do have these, though" he said, showing him a keyring that looked like a Pikachu coming out of a crêpe. "This one's a standard one so I'm not afraid of losing it, but I actually have a small collection from the different Pokemon Centers I've visited. I got a Date Masamune one when I went to Sendai for a shoot, you should see it, it has a little eyepatch and everything. That's why I _must_ go to Kyoto to get the _maiko_ one, it's so cute it's unfair!"

Aomine quirked an eyebrow. He could've sworn… "There's a Pikachu that looks like a _maiko_ right there." He said, pointing at a different shelf with Pikachu wearing kimono.

Kise rolled his eyes. "It's not the same! For starters, they made different versions for the other Pokemon Centers, there's one you can only get in Kyoto. And besides, it defeats the purpose if I buy it anywhere else! It's like buying a Kinkakuji postcard at the Kansai airport without ever going to Kyoto, it'd be stupid."

Aomine scratched his head, not fully understanding what was so terrible about either of those things, but he figured he should drop the subject. Kise had already moved on to the next plushie, a wide smile drawn over his face as he rubbed the Pikachu's round red cheeks, and Aomine couldn't help but be infected by the cheeriness of his expression. It briefly crossed his mind that Satsuki had mentioned she wanted to schedule a training match with Rakuzan before the In-High prelims. Maybe he could get Kise the Pikachu he wanted if that worked out. Kise's birthday was also very close, so the timing would be perfect. He could already picture how happily Kise would smile when he received it, and he was kind of looking forward to that.

He wandered a little and found a shelf with some dog-looking pokemons with different colors. One of them had a black body and pointy ears with yellow rings drawn on its skin. He didn't know its name, but he vaguely remembered seeing it before and thinking it was cool. He picked up a small cellphone strap with a plastic figure of that pokemon and inspected it briefly

"Eeh, Aominecchi likes the Eevelutions?"

Aomine jolted and put the strap back on the shelf. "The what?"

"Eeveelutions, that's how you call all of these" he pointed at the different colored dogs "because they all evolve from Eevee, just with different items and such."

He'd heard of this before. Satsuki really liked them, especially the new pink one. But that weird term Kise had used was just so very stupid he felt almost ashamed to be close to the shelf.

"Eh, that one's kinda cool." He allowed himself to say, pointing at the black one, even while he walked away hoping to leave the incident behind.

Kise giggled. "Let's buy matching ones."

"Hah?"

"Let's buy a matching pair of these. To remember today. _Pleease_ , you like Umbreon, I like Espeon, it'll be perfect."

"Haaah?" Aomine repeated, completely confused.

"These two" he showed him the black one and a purple one that looked more like a cat. "are usually considered a 'pair' because they were released at the same time and they're kind of opposite."

"But I thought you liked Pikachu."

Kise frowned. "Aominecchi, there's 721 Pokemon, and there's even a new batch coming in later this year, there's no way I'm just gonna like Pikachu, there are so many that are cute! And baddass!" He explained emphatically. "And the Eeveelutions are adorable! Espeon's my favorite because it's cute and Psychics are awesome. I mean, of course Pikachu's my absolute favorite, but the Eeveelutions…"

Aomine cocked his head. With his marginal knowledge of the subject matter, he could kind of make sense of what Kise was saying, but that wasn't saying much, especially as he continued to ramble and sprout names that sounded like someone had just smashed their keyboard at random to see what came out.

Apparently he'd been quiet too long, because Kise sighed in defeat and he put the straps back on the shelf.

"Sorry, I got carried away, I know Aominecchi doesn't really like Pokemon. We should get going, it's getting kinda late." He looked disappointed, like all the joy he'd been radiating since they walked into the store had been drained out of him. Aomine felt there was something he should be inferring from this, but he didn't know what that was. All he knew was that he wasn't about to allow himself to ruin the day for Kise just because he was too slow to catch on to stuff.

"Let's buy them."

"Eh?"

"What you said, let's buy them, they're cool."

Kise blushed a little, like he'd been completely caught off guard by that. "It's okay Aominecchi, you don't have money anyway and I know you're not into this stuff." His smile was forced and apologetical and Aomine hated it.

"Oi, don't just assume stuff about people. I _have_ played the games a little you know?" he grabbed the black one. "This one's cool anyway, looks strong and shit. I mean if you wanted me to buy that stupid pink balloon I'd flip you o—"

"HOW DARE YOU SAY JIGGLYPUFF IS STUPID HAVE YOU NO SHAME."

Kise's face was now red with anger. It reminded him of how he'd been last night, when he'd ruined his shirt. For some reason, he found that look on him endearing in a hilarious way. He heard himself laugh before he could stop himself, and now he knew he was getting beaten up, but he didn't really mind.

"C'mon, stop making a big deal out of everything, let's go to the register, there's no one in the line now." He managed to say in between chuckles as he failed to dodge an indignant slap to the shoulder. He grabbed the other strap, the one with the purple whatever thing and with his free hand he stopped Kise midway through another slap, holding on to his wrist and pulling him towards the cashier. This seemed to throw Kise off enough to forget his current outrage, which made it easier to pay for the straps (well, Kise paid for them, because Aomine really didn't have money, but he promised he'd pay him back next time) and exit the shop. Once they were outside, he pulled them out of the shopping bag and passed the purple one over to Kise so he could take a closer look at his own.

"I guess this is supposed to go on the cellphone?" he mused. Because it had pointy ears it'd be a little more uncomfortable to carry his phone in his backpocket, but he could deal with that.

"It's better if you put it on your gym bag." Kise said, a small smile on his lips as he too took a closer look of his own strap. "Won't raise questions cos no one will notice."

Aomine felt lost once more. "Questions?"

"Well yeah, because most guys don't really use cellphone straps unless they buy a matching pair for their girlfriends. Especially if it's a cutesy one, you know how guys feel their masculinity is threatened by anything that's not "for manly men" and shit."

Ah. He now remembered some of his classmates making fun of a guy with a cellphone strap in the shape of a cute smiling blue manjuu. The guy had then bemoaned about how his girlfriend had insisted on it, saying she had a matching pink one. It started to dawn on him that the guys in his classroom seemed awfully annoyed by anything that would please their girlfriends. Why would you date someone if the things that made them happy annoyed you? It didn't make any sense for him. True, he hadn't been particularly stoked about Kise's proposal of getting matching straps, but he was fine giving in on it knowing it would make Kise happy. He didn't actively dislike whatever Pokemon he'd gotten either. Why didn't other guys talk to their girlfriends so they could get straps of something they both liked? The more he thought about it, the stranger everyone else's relationships seemed.

And then it hit him, the reason Kise had gotten so excited and then so disappointed by the idea so quickly. It was a thing for _couples_. He'd said something like that earlier too.

" _There are lots of things I want to do with Aominecchi_ "

Kise had loved him for a long time. What were the chances that he had a whole lot of "couples" things he'd wished to share with him? How many times had he wished for something as silly and simple as having matching cellphone straps? How many things could he have on that list, and how often had he been hurt thinking he'd never actually be able to do them? He'd thought about how he'd been hurting Kise the past few months with this half-assed relationship, but he'd never actually thought of how long Kise might have been hurting from unrequited feelings. His heart clenched. He understood it was pointless to blame himself for not returning Kise's feelings, and he knew Kise didn't blame him either. And yet…

The hand that was holding Kise's wrist moved to lace their fingers together for the millionth time today. It was an extremely pleasant feeling.

"Let's _both_ put them on our gym bags. Basketball is something we have in common after all." He proposed, grinning.

Kise stared at him with wide eyes for a moment, but then his face broke in a dashing smile and he squeezed their laced fingers softly. His whole arm tingled with warmth and he looked away, blinded by Kise's smile.

They walked in comfortable silence for a minute before another realization struck him.

"Ah, fuck."

"Hm?"

He put the strap in his front pocket, making sure it was deep inside so it wouldn't fall out. He watched Kise do the same, and he was briefly amazed by the discovery that skirts could actually have pockets, before he remembered why he'd cursed in the first place.

"I left my gym bag at your place."

"Oh, how terrible, now I have an excuse to have Aominecchi walk me back home like the gentleman he's not."

Aomine would've smacked him, but he would've had to untangle their hands, and he really didn't want to do that.

"Keep that up and I'll buy you the ugliest fucking shirt ever made. One that makes you look fat or something." He grumbled and Kise just laughed.

* * *

The next shop in Kise's seemingly endless itinerary was a huge one called United something something (Aomine didn't really have time to read the name because Kise had rushed inside excitedly).

"You go to the men's section." Kise instructed once he'd caught up, already headed for the women's side of the store.

"Huh?"

"Look at this place, it's huge and they have crazy discounts, you gotta help me out or we'll never be out of here. Since you've given me some good feedback I'll trust your criteria and let you choose a few things for me."

"Eh? B-but-"

"My size is small, just avoid animal prints at all costs –and I mean _at all costs_ \- and you'll be fine."

And before Aomine could object, he was shoved into a rack of clothing and Kise had disappeared. It took him a few moments to recover from the shock, but once he did he found himself browsing through the clothing without giving it much thought, considering the different shirts and trying to imagine how they'd look on Kise. There was a cool denim jacket that had a stretch at the waist and would certainly look flattering on Kise's slim body and, no, forget about it, it was actually the lamest 21 thousand yen jacket he'd ever seen and he never wanted to lay his eyes on it again. He pulled out a blue and white striped long-sleeved shirt. Did Kise like stripes? He'd tried a few shirts with that pattern today, maybe they were trending? Aomine felt completely lost, but he had a feeling it would look good on Kise. He grabbed that shirt and a couple more striped ones (because the only other alternative were plain white shirts and he had a feeling that wasn't quite the point), but he noticed there wasn't much variety in the men's section in terms of colors or shapes, and definitely not much that would match Kise's style. There were a couple of polo shirts that looked okay, but when he tried to picture Kise wearing them, the image in his head looked stiff and unnatural, so he passed on them.

After picking three different shirts, he went back to where they'd parted and started looking around for the strike of golden hair that would give away Kise's location. His eye was caught by a mannequin wearing a sleeveless white blouse with thin black and silver vertical stripes with a soft V-neck. For some reason, Aomine could perfectly picture Kise wearing it, maybe with a pair of jean shorts (the really short ones, shorter than most boxers, that showed so much of his long beautiful legs), or maybe with a skirt or with his black skinny jeans. Kise would look gorgeous in it. Aomine smiled and licked his lips. He'd gladly buy this for Kise and consider it money well-spent. He wondered if Kise would like it. He really hoped he would. When he reached for the rack to look for a small-sized one, his hand brushed against another one. He jolted, turning to the right to find Kise's eyes wide with surprise.

"Oh! Aominecchi! How fancy meeting you here!" he exclaimed with a wide, silly grin.

Aomine rolled his eyes and said nothing.

Kise giggled. "Were you going to pick this one? Maybe Aominecchi does occasionally have good fashion sense." He said, pulling one from the rack. "It's _so_ cute, I wonder if it'll look good on me." He mused, putting it with the huge pile of clothes already hanging from his arm.

"I think it'll suit you." Aomine said, without thinking, and his face burned the moment the words left his mouth. He really needed to think before speaking.

Kise looked at him, taken aback by the compliment (he'd been doing it all day, even though this was probably the millionth time Aomine failed to control his own tongue), and then he smiled brightly and bounced all the way to the changing rooms. Aomine couldn't help the little smile that pulled his lips upward.

"What else did you pick for me?" Kise asked, snatching the handful of shirts Aomine had chosen and inspecting them briefly. "Hm, this is nice." He commented, looking at the one with the wide blue stripes. "Maybe I should bring you shopping more often, you're being surprisingly helpful."

Aomine frowned. "Oi, what's that supposed to mean."

"It's a _compliment_."

"It's not a great one."

"Beggars can't be choosers."

"Oi! And what does _that_ mean?"

Kise snickered and made his way into the changing room before Aomine could smack him or something of the sort. He huffed, determined to tell Kise he looked horrible in everything just to get back at him, but the thought died before it could reach his mouth when Kise walked out wearing the long-sleeved shirt with blue stripes Aomine had picked. There was nothing particularly special about it, but that shade of blue really contrasted with the gold of his hair and it also looked great on his skin. This time Kise had kept his skirt, and the combined look was casual and relaxed.

"That one looks really good on you."

Kise's eyes widened again (seriously, why was he still getting surprised?) and then he smiled his money-making smile at him.

"You really think so?" he asked delighted, pulling at the hem of the shirt and bouncing on his toes.

"Yeah, I do."

"I really like it too! I love this color and stripes this wide aren't very common, they look cool." He twirled a little. Aomine loved it when Kise twirled. "Maybe I should go with this one? Price's good too." He pondered, turning around to look at himself on the mirror before twirling once again.

Aomine felt himself swell a little with pride. It felt weirdly special to know Kise liked something he'd picked for him. At the same time, he was still curious about the sleeveless blouse, but he wasn't going to say anything if Kise decided to get this one.

"Hm, but the long sleeves are gonna be a problem starting in a few weeks." Kise continued, trying different angles and poses in front of the mirror. "Oh well, I could wear it in September when the weather cools down a bit." He turned again to face him, his smile not budging an inch. "I'm impressed, Aominecchi picked something awesome for me." Aomine's heart fluttered a little. "There's a few more things I wanna try, but I'm really thinking this one's gonna be the winner."

Aomine was a little relieved to hear that. He was getting exhausted (and hungry) after following Kise through over fifteen shops and probably a hundred million different outfits, but since they were already in the shop, he wanted to enjoy the fashion show a little longer. Watching Kise combine different clothes and coming up with cool looking outfits, the flirty way he posed and twirled and smiled, how the different colors matched his skin and his eyes, the fabrics molding to his beautiful body, and most importantly the way his expression brightened with joy when he tried on an outfit he really liked, were all things that brought a smile to Aomine's face.

Next, Kise tried a couple of blouses he'd picked from the women's section. One was baggy and had bright earthy red color, and he paired it with the tightest white jeans Aomine had ever seen, and really, that shouldn't be legal. The loose blouse balanced the tight pants, which accentuated Kise's slim figure wonderfully. Then there was a grey sleeveless top with dark grey splotches that looked like clouds, and a green sleeveless button-up with a formal-looking neckline. All of them looked gorgeous on Kise. Aomine was starting to like this shop, and to woefully regret that he wouldn't see Kise in any of these clothes again.

After that he came out wearing another of the striped shirts Aomine had half-assedly picked. It was white with black stripes, and it looked okay, but nowhere near as great as much of the other stuff Kise had tried on today.

"What do you think?" Kise asked, already looking at himself in the mirror, although his expression said he wasn't too convinced by this look.

"It's not terrible, but you've tried on lots of better stuff."

"Yeah, I think so too. Isn't it ridiculous that there is so little variety in the men's section? It's like anything other than plain colors and horizontal stripes isn't masculine enough."

Aomine had to agree. He was starting to see why Kise liked shopping in women's stores. Firstly, the clothes suited him beautifully, and secondly, there was just so much more variety in colors, shapes, patterns and combinations. He himself was okay with just t-shirts with cool prints, but for someone who enjoyed dressing up like Kise, the endless racks of plain t-shirts, striped button-ups and polo shirts must be incredibly dull.

"Yeah, sorry that I couldn't find something nicer."

Kise looked at him and cocked his head. "You don't have to apologize, Aominecchi, Jesus! It's not your fault designers get so uncreative when it comes to dressing men. 'Sides, you've picked me a handful of awesome stuff today too." He said reassuringly. His eyes suddenly lit up with excitement. "Ah! I'm gonna try on _that one_ next!" he chirped before rushing back into the dressing room.

It took him a little bit longer to come out than with his previous items, which meant he was also changing out of the jeans he'd worn for his last three outfits. When the curtain opened, Kise skipped out of the booth wearing his black skirt (that would probably be the subject of Aomine's wet dreams for months to come), and the white blouse they'd picked together. Aomine's jaw dropped to the ground.

"Fuck."

* * *

This blouse felt wonderful –light, and soft and free-, and that was all Kise was thinking when he stepped out of the booth, not sure if he wanted to look at himself first or hear what Aominecchi thought of this get up. He decided on the latter, but before he could open his mouth to ask for an opinion (and twirl a little, because then Aominecchi would blush an adorable shade of crimson and smile a little, super cute smile), Aominecchi had stood up from the bench he'd been sitting on and taken the three long strides that separated them from each other just so he could grab the back of Kise's head and smash their lips together brusquely.

Kise felt his face burning and his heartbeat accelerating in a second. He widened his eyes for a moment, but then allowed himself to melt into the clumsy kiss, parting his lips to let Aominecchi's tongue inside his mouth. His blood felt like liquid fire. He even forgot where he was and how to breathe, both of which seemed like unimportant knowledge anyway.

When they parted for air, Aomine's eyes locked into his, glazed over with passion and something else Kise couldn't completely decipher. Aominecchi's fingers were still on his nape, digging the tiniest bit into his skin. Kise wanted to ask what was going on, because as much as he'd appreciated that kiss that had made his heart do a back-flip inside his chest, it was still unusual for Aominecchi to be so bold, especially in public. Once again, before he could open his mouth to ask, Aominecchi cut him off.

"Fuck, you look _perfect_."

This was it. Either his face burned so hard it evaporated, or he'd be so goddamned red Aominecchi would be laughing at him for the rest of their lives. _Oh god_ , how could he… how could he possibly say something so embarrassing with such a sincere expression? He wanted to pull away from that gaze, but he found himself unable to, and in those midnight eyes he saw the same words Aominecchi had just spoken. What was he even supposed to make of this? Why was Aominecchi looking at him like that?

He felt fingers tracing his jaw and tilting his chin a little bit upwards and then Aomine was kissing him again, slow and sweet. Kise's legs quivered, he feared they wouldn't hold him much longer, so he grabbed on to the front of Aomine's t-shirt, trying to keep his balance. Maybe Aomine felt how much he was struggling to not melt in a puddle of goo and useless legs, because the hand that was on his nape traveled slowly down his back (and with it, a shiver) and stopped at his waist, circling around him and holding him steady and closer. He could feel Aomine's heartbeat under his palm, and it was racing and thundering, just like his own.

A saleswoman cleared her throat not-so-discreetly. Kise pushed Aomine away, even if he almost lost his balance trying.

"A-a-aominecchi y-you c-a-an't do th-that in public!" he squeaked with a thin voice.

Aomine himself seemed to suddenly grow awfully self-conscious about what he'd done. He looked down, avoiding Kise's eyes, a faint pink dusting his cheeks. "Sorry I..." he trailed off and scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"A-and also, you d-don't have to go out of your way to f-flatter me. I-I mean, we can k-k-kiss and stuff anytime, just like… not right here."

That made Aomine look up. He looked mildly offended, but Kise didn't understand why. "The hell's that?! I wasn't flattering you to get a kiss. I really think you look _damn beautiful_ in that. What the fuck, why do I have to explain that to someone with an ego like yours? Look at yourself in that goddamned mirror, for crying out loud."

Kise might've felt slightly upset at Aominecchi's jab at his ego ("pot calling the kettle black!" he would've said), but his brain was so numb with Aominecchi's raw honesty all he could do was blush. He turned away quickly to do as suggested and look at himself in the mirror and oh, god, his face and his ears and his neck and even the little of his chest that was visible looked like they were on fire and oh, ooohh…

"Holy mother I look _amazing_!"

"What did I just tell you?"

He grinned at his own reflection and began his usual routine of trying different poses to see how the blouse would look from a different angle, and it managed to look fabulous in all of them. It had been a while since he tried on something that looked so good on him. He bent over to lay his palms over his knees to see how the blouse looked when wrinkled, but when he looked at himself on the mirror, he saw Aominecchi standing behind him, arms crossed over his chest, a smile on his lips that said how pleased he was with himself. Did Aominecchi want him that badly just for wearing this?

"Like what you see?" he blurted, trying to sound teasing and failing spectacularly. He'd never been so self-conscious about having Aomine's eyes on him, but now he just couldn't help it.

"Very" was the simple answer, and then Aomine extended his hand at him. He grabbed it without much thought and then his arm was raised over his head with a light tug. "C'mon, show me." Aomine drew a circle in the air with his free hand, a teasing smirk on his lips.

Kise's cheeks were almost unbearably hot, so he didn't put up any fight and let himself be propelled by the soft pull at his wrist, twirling around without letting go of Aomine's hand, as if they were dancing. His skirt flapped a little, and the blouse caught the breeze that the movement generated perfectly, proving how light and fresh it was, perfect for the summer. Once he'd done a 360-degree turn, he couldn't avoid Aomine's eyes that were looking at him as if he were a work of art, and his heart skipped a beat. He swallowed thickly. There was something sweet and tender about that look, that made thousands of butterflies flutter in his belly.

"So?" he managed to breathe out, holding Aomine's disarming gaze with all the willpower in his body. "What… what do you think?" he stuttered a little, and turned around to face the mirror and fake that he was inspecting himself again to hide it.

Aomine snorted. "Now you're just trying to _make me_ flatter you some more, aren't you?" Kise felt his chin leaning over his shoulder and saw him on the mirror staring hotly at him, his arms hugging his waist. "I already told you I love how that looks on you."

Kise froze in Aominecchi's arms. Had he just said…? _No_ , he told himself, trying to steady his breathing, _this is exactly what you're not supposed to do_. He was talking about the _clothes_ , not him. It was just like saying he loved basketball or teriyaki burger. He couldn't allow himself to start overanalyzing everything and looking for signs that were probably not there, or he'd drive himself insane. Besides, it was way more important to stop Aominecchi from kissing his neck in such a terribly irresistible way or they'd get kicked out of the shop, even if, no, rather _because_ being able to see Aomine's lips on his skin on the mirror was way more arousing than it had any right to be.

"But it doesn't matter what I think." Aominecchi said, once more before Kise could say anything to him, his head resting leisurely on Kise's shoulder. "You're the one who'll wear it, so what's important is that you love yourself in it." His lips curled in a pure, unraveled smile that reminded Kise of their days in Teikou. A smile he'd missed so dearly and that always made him melt inside.

"I do." He said quietly, finally finding the courage to lock his eyes with Aomine's and smiling back at him through the mirror. "I love it, it's my favorite by far. It's _so good_ on me and so perfect for summer! I don't even want to look at anything else, I want this."

Aomine disentangled himself from Kise. "You'll get what you want then."

 _You. What I want is you_. The thought briefly crossed his mind. He pushed it away immediately, angry at himself for even letting such a thought out.

"Go get changed before you get that thing sweaty and stinky."

Kise huffed, even if he was unable to suppress his smile. "If anything, it already stinks because Aominecchi was all over me."

"Huh? I don't stink, I even used that stupid shampoo you gave me."

"As if just a little dose of shampoo could do anything against Aominecchi's Neanderthal stench."

Aomine glared at him. "I changed my mind, I'm buying you that animal print t-shirt."

"YOU WOULDN'T DARE."

"You sure about that?"

Kise wanted to screech indignantly, but instead he got infected by Aominecchi's laughter, and that was fine too.

* * *

Aomine was having trouble keeping up with Kise, who was literally skipping down the hallways, happily swinging the single shopping bag. Aomine's soul had almost exited his body when he'd seen the price tag on that blouse, but luckily there was a huge red sticker with an unbelievable discount. It would've broken his heart if he couldn't get that blouse Kise had obviously liked so much.

"Can you believe how lucky we were? It was soooo cheap!" he squealed delighted, taking a peek into the shopping bag. His face brightened.

"I wouldn't say 4500 yen's exactly cheap, I could buy like eight big teriyaki burgers with that."

So maybe he had gone a little over budget, but it had really been just a little, and he could forfeit lunch just this once for Kise's sake and it'd be completely worth it.

When they'd looked at the price tag, Kise's face had fallen in disappointment. "Oh, I guess I'll choose something else." He'd said, already putting the blouse back in its hanger.

"The hell?"

"It's over budget. I'm such an idiot, I should've checked first. That's a beginner's mistake!" he tried to laugh it off.

Aomine had stopped him them, a sense of urgency boiling in his stomach. "It's just 500 yen, I still have enough left for the train back. If this is what you want then take it."

Kise had looked at him, his eyes betraying his disbelief. "B-but Aominecchi…" he'd started, looking at the blouse with longing eyes and chewing on his lower lip a little. "I-it's okay I…"

"I haven't seen you as happy today as when you looked at yourself wearing that. What's the point of this whole thing if you're gonna end disappointed? I said I'd buy you a new shirt, if that's the one you want, then so be it."

There was still some uncertainty and regret in Kise's eyes. Aomine sighed. "Look, the animal print t-shirt is calling to me, so if you don't get your ass moving to the register I won't be responsible for myself."

Kise had blushed then, soft and shy and a cute tiny smile appeared on his lips. "Okay."

Once he'd received the shopping bag though, all of his worries and concerns seemed to have vanished, too caught in the excitement of his new clothes to bother with anything else for a few minutes.

"I'm sorry, Aominecchi, I'll pay back the overbudget money." He said with a small pout.

"No you won't, let it go already. Unless you really want me to get you that ugly as fuck animal print garbage."

"No, Aominecchi, never animal print! NEVER!"

"You sure? Cos you're being such a pain in the ass I almost think you want it."

"I wouldn't be caught dead wearing that!"

"We'll see about that."

"What's that even supposed to mean?!"

"Nothing, look up!"

"Wha—Aominecchi what the-?!"

"Just a lil' selfie to remember how easily you get worked up."

Aomine looked at the picture on his cellphone while trying to keep his device away from Kise's furious hands and grinned.

* * *

"Oooh! I'd totally forgotten it was coming out this week!" Kise squealed delighted, picking up a magazine from the shelf at the convenience store. Now that their "mission" had been accomplished, Kise had agreed to take a little break and get something to drink, but the moment they'd stepped inside the store, something had caught his eye that caused him to make a beeline for the magazine section. It took Aomine just a moment to understand the excitement, as he saw a large photograph of Kise himself on the cover of the magazine wearing a white t-shirt with a big shark printed over a grey patch to the side and the most complicated jeans Aomine had ever seen.

Aomine had seen Kise's magazines before, he'd just never really _looked_ at them. And he knew Kise was a model, but he hadn't actually _seen_ him modeling. He never imagined it would be much different to his usual self, after all, he was already dashingly attractive and flirty by nature. But the Kise on the photo looked almost like a completely different person. His body was leaning against the invisible backdrop, the fabric of the clothes molding to his figure, the position accentuating all the smallest details of the garment. One of his hands was fingering the edge of the jean's pocket, while the other one seemed to be halfway through pushing his bangs away from his eyes that looked dark and intense and inviting, and there was just the smallest hint of a smile in the corner of his lips. He could tell he was wearing much heavier make-up than usual, and he found he couldn't tear his gaze away from those provocative golden eyes.

"Geez, the agency's supposed to send me a copy a few weeks before it comes out, why are they so late now?" Kise's carefree tone managed to bring him back to the present. "I really enjoyed this shoot so I was excited to see how they'd turned out, the clothes were super cool!" he added, flipping through the pages. "Heeh, they actually did give me the big spread and everything, I'm so flattered!" he squealed delighted.

Aomine wasn't listening anymore. He wanted that magazine. Fuck, he really wanted it. He wanted to see a side of Kise he didn't usually see. Like the side that was very passionate about karaoke, or the one that cried about the stupidest things in romantic movies, or the one that shopped for clothes in stores with stupid names. He felt not many could see there was so much more to Kise than an overconfident, clingy asshole, heck, even _he_ probably hadn't been as aware of that as he should've, considering they'd been friends for so long. But now he wanted to change that. He wanted to see more pictures of Kise like that, provoking the camera with his body, luring the unsuspecting viewer into the deathly trap of his eyes. Without thinking, he reached for the shelf to grab a magazine of his own. He had to get it, even if that meant spending his train money on it. Fuck it, he'd walk back to Tokyo, it'd probably take less than half a day.

"Ah, I got an idea, wait here!" Kise chirped suddenly, once again pulling him out of his daze.

He lifted his head to see Kise rushing to the counter with the magazine at hand. He exchanged a few words with the salesman and then opened the magazine on top of the counter, pulled an item from his pocket –a black marker, Aomine noticed after staring a little- and scribbled something on the paper. He then smiled at the salesman, handed him some money, and skipped back to Aomine's side with a cheeky grin.

"Here." He said, handing him the magazine. "I even signed it and everything, it's gonna be worth a fortune someday." He declared with conviction.

Aomine allowed himself to get lost in the cover for a few more moments, his lips curling upwards in a smile. Kise looked simply amazing in that photo. He was about to start flipping through the pages when Kise stopped him by the wrist.

"You can't see it until you get back home." He said firmly. "You've the real me right here, you wouldn't want to waste the precious time you can have in my glorious presence, after all." He smirked, pointing at his own chest with a grandiose flick of his wrist. Aomine thought he looked utterly ridiculous and couldn't even feel annoyed by it.

"The one in here isn't half as noisy, I think that gives him an edge." He said lightly, pointing at the photo.

Kise's face flushed beet red. "RUDE! Of course a brute like Aominecchi wouldn't appreciate the privileges he gets! Gimme back my autograph, you don't deserve it!" he squawked with indignation, reaching out to get the magazine back.

Aomine twisted his body away to keep the magazine away from Kise's grasp "No way" He retorted, laughing. Like hell he was giving it back "you already said it's gonna be worth a fortune someday and I'm probably gonna want to buy a new videogame console when that time comes."

The furious screech that followed threatened to burst his eardrums, but that only fueled his laughter further.

* * *

"Teriyaki burgers are definitely the best." Aominecchi stated in a cheerful tone after gobbling down the rest of his burger. "Even the ones from conbini are great." He continued, and there was a light skip in his step. Kise thought it was adorable.

Since Aominecchi had gone over budget, he now had no money to buy any lunch. At first he'd said he was okay and wasn't really hungry, but his grumbling stomach had given him away in the end. So Kise had stomped back to the convenience store and bought a teriyaki burger that was probably made of plastic, but knowing Aominecchi he wouldn't mind. Of course, this being Aominecchi, he had to bring his pride into every little thing, and that included a 200 yen plastic hamburger.

"What was even the point of me buying you that shirt if you're gonna end up buying my food?"

Kise had rolled his eyes. "It's the _sentiment_ , Aominecchi, jesus. Of course I could've bought it myself, but then it would've been just one more shirt in my closet. Now it's gonna be _special_ because Aominecchi got it _for me_." And as he'd said the words, his grip on the shopping back had tightened and he'd smiled giddily remembering the way Aominecchi had looked at him when he'd tried on that blouse.

That had been enough to make Aominecchi drop the subject, a small pink blush rising on his cheeks, and he'd decided to dig in to his burger to avoid the issue altogether. And because he obviously didn't have any standards about what he put in his mouth, he'd glomped the burger down in three bites while delighting in the apparently amazing taste of plastic. Kise didn't even want to _think_ of all the chemicals that shit had, but since it made Aominecchi happy, he didn't comment about it.

They were now walking with no particular destination in mind, but Kise didn't want to point that out. The mood was too perfect to ruin it with such a pointless observation. Even though they weren't holding hands right now –being occupied by the food- he felt they'd never been so close. Their shoulders would brush together occasionally. There was a wide, bright grin on Aominecchi's face and walking side by side like this, with no particular destination in mind was just too pleasant. He briefly mused just how good they were together. Takaocchi had been right about that. He wondered if Aominecchi had noticed too, if maybe the thought that they could make each other happy had crossed his mind once or twice today. He wanted to believe it had.

"Ugh, the other day I had the most stupid discussion with Bakagami about this. That uncultured swine has no sense of taste at all."

On one hand, Kise couldn't quite imagine a discussion that Kagamicchi and Aominecchi could have that wasn't _the stupidest_. On the other one, he was surprised Aominecchi even knew of the expression "uncultured swine". He didn't comment on any of those and just offered Aominecchi some potato chips he'd technically bought for himself, but was actually letting Aominecchi eat most of, hoping he'd at least get Aominecchi fed (though certainly not nourished) without hurting his pride.

"Like he was at Majiba because that's apparently the only thing he eats and he had like a billion BBQ burgers, that shit's gross! Who does that? Who chooses that shit when you can have the double teriyaki burger for about the same money?"

Kise snorted. He'd known Aominecchi's favorite food for a while, but he never thought he'd be so passionate about it. And even if Aominecchi himself never admitted to it, his friendly rivalry with Kagamicchi had done him a lot of good. That was one more thing Kise wasn't going to comment on.

"But then I figured Bakagami's an idiot and I'd have to explain all those basic things to him and then out of nowhere Tets—shit."

 _Eh?_

"Shit, I'm sorry Kise."

Kise stopped dead on his track, confused.

"Why… why are you apologizing?"

His eyes were locked on Aomine's and he saw pain and regret darkening them.

"Well it was… part of our agreement, right? I'm not allowed to say it… his name."

Ah.

Kise felt a loud crack inside his chest. A painful crack.

He turned the opposite direction of wherever they were going, catching a glimpse of the hurt in Aomine's expression.

"I-I've to go home now."

* * *

Aomine could feel his heart thundering in his chest with panic. His mind rushed and he reached forward to grab Kise by the wrist.

"Eh? W-wait, Kise, I'm really sorry, I didn't mean it!" He didn't even have the time to catch up with what was happening, all he knew was that he couldn't let Kise leave. Not like this.

"Thanks for the shirt, it's really nice." Kise tugged his wrist free of his hand, not even looking at him.

"Oi, Kise,wait! Kise! It won't happen again, I promise!"

He had to stop him.

"I forgot I had vacation homework, I really need to go now."

"Th-then at least let me walk you to the bus stop."

He _had_ to stop him.

"No need, you should go catch your train back, the station's gonna be packed."

"Hold on, Kise, wait!"

If he didn't stop him now…

Kise finally halted and turned to look at him.

"Really, it's fine, it's too much of a detour for you." It wasn't fine at all. Aomine had never heard his voice sound so cold, his smile so fake. This was wrong, he had to stop him, he had to—"Bye, Aomine."

That froze him in his tracks. Kise had never called him by his last name alone. His heart dropped to the pit of his stomach. He fucked up. He'd fucked up really bad. He'd broken his promise of not hurting Kise. His mind raced trying to think of a way to fix this, but by the time he looked up, Kise had already disappeared into the crowd.

Aomine stood there, unable to move, or think or even breathe for what felt like an eternity. He couldn't believe this had just happened. He glanced down to see he was still holding the magazine with Kise's photo on the cover. His chest ached. His eyes still skimmed over the crowd, looking, hoping to see a golden head, just so he could chase him, apologize, make things right again.

But what could he even say to fix this?

He looked at the photo again, at Kise's small seductive smile, at the twinkle in his eyes. He chewed on his lower lip and pressed the magazine to his chest, unable to keep looking at that photo.

Somehow he managed to drag himself out of the shopping mall and into a train that would take him home. His fingers were already hurting with how tight he was holding the magazine. An empty, hollow feeling was eating away at his heart. Had he really ruined everything and so stupidly too? His eyes felt hot.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. His heart raced when he read the screen.

 **[New Text Message]**

 **[From** : Kise]

His fingers trembled as he opened the message.

His heart dropped.

" _Let's end this."_

 _To be continued._

Happy birthday Kise! I hope you enjoyed this chapter that ends in a sad sad sad note haha. I'm the worst for birthdays. Like did anyone actually think I was going to let them transition smoothly, haha, if you did you obviously don't know me.

I'm very aware that not all men's clothing is dull and boring, but believe me, I went on to the websites of all the stores I mentioned in these two chapters and all of them had dull and boring shit in the men's section. If you wanna see the blouse Kise bought or the clothes he's wearing for his magazine spread, hit me up on tumblr at liamatsuoka

Most of the information regarding Pokemon Center and Pikachu merchandise is real. Although tbh I didn't know there was a Date Masamune Pikachu and I didn't visit the Pokemon Center in Sendai, but having been in Sendai, I would be surprised if there weren't. And I googled it and of course there is one (Senday sure loves Date after all). Not sure if it's exclusive to Sendai though. Other exclusive things from the Kyoto Pokemon Center include a Pikachu plushie dressed as Lugia and Ho-Oh. Look it up, it's adorable. Also, I share Aomine's disappointment at finding the Pokemon Center (I went to the one in Osaka) is just a merchandise shop, I'd imagined something a bit more interactive. Also, I didn't know the Pokemon Center Yokohama was in Landmark Plaza when I chose that location, it was a happy coincidence. Sorry for the pointless information.

According to Google maps, it takes 5 hours and 33 minutes to walk from Landmark Plaza to Tokyo Tower. How long it takes from there to Aomine's home is anyone's guess.

Sorry for more super long author notes about my obsessive attention to detail. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, we're getting to the climax of the story!


	12. The pity party advanced kit

**The pity party advanced kit**

It was the worst fifteen-minute bus ride of Kise's life, every second a struggle to hold his tears in. He kept his eyes shut tight, his teeth clenched and his fingers digging into the single shopping bag all the way to the stop a block away from his home. He somehow managed to make his way inside and climb up to his room, even with his vision completely blurred by tears. His chest was so painfully tight he could hardly breathe. He slammed the door closed and collapsed against it, hiding his eyes behind his palm and finally letting the tears flow freely down his face, a long, strangled sob bursting from his lungs.

 _What an idiot._

He'd been incredibly stupid if he'd actually believed there was any hope of Aomine falling in love with him. This weekend had been so perfect he'd gotten his hopes up. He felt foolish remembering how his heart had been fluttering with joy in his chest all day long. How his skin had tingled every time their fingers graced, how he'd smiled into all of those kisses. How he'd looked into Aomine's eyes and thought 'this must be it. This must be how it feels when someone's loving you with their eyes'.

 _What a fucking idiot._

He crawled lifelessly towards his nightstand to grab tissues. He didn't want this shirt to get ruined too. There weren't many left in the box. They'd used a lot last night.

He screamed, choking on his tears. He was glad no one was home to hear him. He didn't have the energy to climb up his bed, so he lay on the hard wooden floor crying, every sob feeling like he was being stabbed in the heart; every wail hurting as if the knife was being twisted. The look of regret and mortification in Aomine's face flashed in his mind, and every time it did, all he could do was snarl furiously and slam his fist on the floor.

 _You knew this was going to end like this, you stupid idiot._

He'd known. He'd always known. But he'd made the terrible mistake of dreaming, of hoping, thinking of what ifs that were never going to be realized. He bit his lip. He hated crying. It messed up his make-up, made his eyes sting and swell red, which was a pain if he was going to have a shoot later, and gave him a runny nose, which was all around gross. But crying for Aomine was way worse. It hurt his heart so deeply he worried he'd never be able to put it back in one piece. He wished he could tear that useless organ out from his chest so it couldn't cause him any more pain.

When the flow of tears finally started to decrease, he grabbed his phone and flipped it open. He remembered his conversation with Takao a few weeks ago. He should've heeded his original suggestion.

" _To be honest my first advice would be something you probably won't like…"_

He should've taken it when he could. He should've known, like Takao had, that doing anything else would just cause him more pain in the long run.

" _What would that be?"_

Kise had known exactly what he'd meant by that, but he tried acting like he didn't, like he wasn't aware that it was the best option.

" _Well, based on what you've told me so far, I really think the best solution is obvious."_

He scrolled through his contact list and found Aomine's name, still with that silly little heart he'd put next to it years ago. He grazed the name with his thumb and he felt more fat tears rolling down his cheek.

 **[New Text Message]**

 **[To** : Aominecchi ❤]

"Let's end this."

A second ticked by.

" _OK."_

He dug his teeth into his lower lip. Hot tears continued to spill from the corners of his eyes.

It was done. No going back now.

This was for the best, he tried to tell himself as he tried and failed to get a hold of his own breath.

He tried to hide his face against the wooden floor, hoping to drown the sound of a loud strangled sob rising from his chest, but he was unsuccessful, and the pitiful sound filled the empty space of his bedroom.

And all he could think was how fast Aomine had accepted. Almost as if this whole thig hadn't meant anything to him.

* * *

" _Let's end this."_

Aomine froze. His fingers quivered, and he had to hold the phone with both hands to prevent dropping it. He could almost hear the sound his heart made when it sank to the ground. A thousand thoughts raced through his mind; a thousand words he should say ( _please, wait, I'm sorry, let's talk about it first_ ), but in the end he wrote one word only and pressed the send button, his fingers still trembling.

"OK"

He had no right to ask for anything, he realized. Kise had been the one putting his heart on the line all along, and he had the right to call quits whenever he wanted. Aomine had broken their promise too. And really, what could he say? "I think I might be falling in love with you"? Kise didn't deserve something so half-hearted. He didn't deserve to get hurt again.

His phone buzzed again.

" _Also, let's not talk for a while."_

"OK."

Aomine's grip on his phone was tight. His eyes were burning. And his blood. And every breath he took. And his heart.

 _Fuck._

On an impulse, he smashed his phone to the floor. It made an ugly crack sound when the screen hit the hard material of the train car. The other passengers stared at him, some looking slightly scared of his suddenly violent behavior. Mom would get mad at him. She probably wouldn't buy him a new phone.

He picked the device from the floor and flipped it over to check on the damage. The screen was practically shattered all over, but instead of blacking out, it was stuck on the last image it had before getting broken. His last conversation with Kise.

 _Fuck._

* * *

Through teary eyes, he'd been staring at the last message he'd sent Aomine for hours. He knew because the sun was already starting to set. His mom and sisters would be home shortly, but he couldn't even think of moving. He really hoped they wouldn't want to see him or talk about their trip, because all he wanted was to merge into the wooden floor and let this painful existence slip out of consciousness.

He shook his head. He couldn't be thinking something so scary. He browsed through his contacts again. He didn't want to speak directly because he knew his voice was going to falter and he would start crying right away, but he also didn't want to type it and put his pathetic melodrama into words that he could reread and torment himself with. So a call it was.

The phone rang twice, but the voice that picked up wasn't the one he'd expected.

" _Kise?"_

"Midorimacchi, can you put Takaocchi on the phone?" he pleaded, trying to keep his voice in control, and not really succeeding.

He could hear faint whispers and shuffling in the background before Takao got the phone.

" _Kise? Shin-chan looks worried, did something happen?"_

He smiled fondly. He should feel lucky for having caring friends like them.

"I…" he croaked, some more tears running down his cheeks. "I ended it." He managed to say, his voice cracking completely, a sob tying his throat in a tight knot.

Takao didn't ask what he meant, he obviously understood. " _I'm sorry to hear that_." He said quietly. He probably knew Kise wanted to say much more, so he waited patiently on the line. Perhaps he was a bit too perceptive.

"He just…" it was stupid. "I thought it was working. I thought… I really thought he could… love me." His voice faltered on that painful word and he gasped for air. That had been his greatest mistake. To allow himself to hope. Now he knew how perfect things would be if Aominecchi could ever love him back. He now knew how it felt, which made it even more painful to know it would never come true. "But then he… he said Kurokocchi's name and he apologized!" he grabbed the last tissue and wiped his face clean of tears and snot and his smeared make-up, to no avail, since more tears continued to burn down his cheeks. "Why?! Why would he apologize for saying his best friend's name if not because he still loves him…?" It was so, so terribly stupid, he was aware of that but he was also so tired of all this.

Takao was silent for a moment. Kise heard hushed whispers, like he was consulting something with Midorimacchi and then sighed. " _If you think this is the best decision for you now, you have my support. And Shin-chan's. Do you want us to come over? We can eat ice cream straight from the bucket and watch awful movies until Shin-chan's eyes roll to the back of his skull_."

Kise let out a heavy breath and found himself chuckling slightly. That honestly sounded like the best idea anyone had offered him in months.

"Thanks Takaocchi, but it's a one-hour train ride over here and there's school tomorrow." He managed to say, finally regaining control of his voice. "But… can… can you and Midorimacchi stay on the line a little while?"

" _Sure, no problem_!"

He sighed with relief. "I'm sorry for causing so much trouble."

Takao laughed softly. " _It's okay, it's okay! We're all friends, right? Shin-chan may not be saying anything, but he has this 'worried sick' look on his face too_."

" _Takao_!"

The thought of Midorimacchi fuming somehow gave him the strength to climb on the bed, lying on his stomach on top of the rustled blankets. He'd been so excited to go shopping with Aomine he hadn't bothered making his bed, even if he usually never failed to do it. A stray tear leaked down his cheek, dripping into the pillow. It still smelled of Aominecchi's horrible manly man deodorant. In the end, he hadn't been to Aominecchi's place again to bring civilization into his self-hygiene products. Another tear fell into the pillow. Kise shut his eyes and let the sound of Midorimacchi and Takaocchi arguing play in the background. He inhaled the scent on the pillow (cheap and gross), and it made him feel pathetic, so he decided to let himself fall asleep instead of dwelling on it any longer.

* * *

Satsuki had a bad feeling about today. Dai-chan hadn't come back on Saturday after their game with Kise, and she didn't really need to push her imagination too far to know what that meant. But then when he'd arrived last night –Sunday- he'd gone to sleep right away. She knew this because she could see his bedroom from her window, and noticed that the light was only on for a few minutes before it was turned off again.

It was strange. For as long as they'd known each other, every Sunday before Golden Week ended, Dai-chan would call her at around eight at night to ask for help with his holiday homework, which he always left for the last minute. Not last night though. She'd sent him a couple of texts, but he hadn't answered any. And now, standing in front of Dai-chan's door like she did every morning to make sure he actually attended school, she couldn't help the feeling of dread growing in her chest.

"Good morning Satsuki-chan!"

She lifted her eyes to greet Dai-chan's mom. "Good morning, Oba-san." She replied, bowing politely.

"I'm so glad you're here, I've been trying to call Daiki for breakfast but he's not even answering."

Satsuki chewed her lower lip briefly.

"Don't worry Oba-san, I'll drag him to school by the ear if I have to!" she responded, managing a bright smile as she walked inside the house and went straight for the stairs towards Dai-chan's room. She rushed upwards and slammed the door open loudly. "Dai-chan! It's really late, the Captain will get very mad if you're late for morning practice again!" she screeched in a commanding tone.

"Don't care."

She was fully expecting Dai-chan to yell back at her for being so loud and for breaking in without even knocking, so she almost didn't register the quiet drawl she actually got. Her eyes searched the room and found a lump under the bedsheets.

She took a step forward tentatively. "Dai-chan." She repeated a little more quietly. "Come on, Oba-san is getting worried about you."

"Tell her I'm fine. I just don't wanna get up today." His voice was a little raspy, as if he'd been screaming a lot yesterday.

She bit her lip again. There was no doubt about it, something had gone wrong with Kii-chan. She felt the impending need to confront Dai-chan about it, she'd literally tried to warn him about the consequences two days ago and he hadn't listened. She'd known this was going to end badly for both of her friends from the start, and Dai-chan had no one but himself to blame if things had turned south. She briefly thought of telling him that, but when she pulled the covers away to find Dai-chan curled into himself, and noticed the reddened corners of his eyes, she couldn't even bring herself to say "I told you so".

"Sorry, I promised I'd drag you to school no matter what." She said apologetically before grabbing her friend's ear with her thumb and index to pull.

Dai-chan yelped. "What the fuck, Satsuki?!" he sat up and snarled at her. "Leave me the fuck alone!"

She crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. "No." she may feel bad for him, but she wasn't going to let him drown in self-pity. "I'm not moving until you come to school with me." Getting distracted might help him feel a little better, and maybe he'd want to talk about whatever had happened. The sooner she figured it out, the quicker she could think of something that could somehow mend the situation.

"Ha." Dai-chan snorted. "As if you'd ruin your perfect attendance score."

She pulled on his ear again, ignoring his cries of pain. "If Dai-chan were a good friend, he wouldn't _let me_ ruin my perfect attendance and would come to school without fighting."

Dai-chan glared at her. Sha glared back. It didn't last long though, she knew him too well.

"Agh, fine." He groaned, cracking his neck. With the movement, she managed to see a small purple bruise right underneath his jawline. Her eyes widened. "Whatever, get out so I can get changed."

She shook her head and allowed herself a little triumphant smile. "I'll tell Oba-san to put your breakfast in a bento box so you can eat after practice." She said, skipping out of the room.

"Yeah, thanks." He replied.

Before closing the door, she caught a glimpse of her best friend taking off his shirt and the angry red scratches that bloomed on his lower back, getting lost underneath his sweatpants. Her face grew hot. She'd had little doubts about what her two friends were doing when they spent the night together, but having visual confirmation sent images into her mind that she really didn't want.

He didn't take long. She'd barely finished walking down the stairs when she heard his door creak open (she'd told him to put some oil in those rusty hinges a million times already), and he jogged to catch up with her.

"Hurry up, Daiki! If Satsuki-chan is late because of you I'm grounding you." Dai-chan's mom scolded him, her arm stretched to hand him his bento box. "I don't know what this boy would do without you, really." She added, turning to look at Satsuki with a warm smile. Dai-chan shrugged, grabbing the bento box and going straight for the door.

"I don't know either." She replied with a smile as they reached the door. "We're off now, Oba-san."

"Have a nice day at school, both of you! And don't skip any classes, Daiki!"

He waved nonchalantly and closed the door behind his back. Satsuki looked up to find his eyes and tell him something silly, try and establish some sense of normalcy, but the first thing she found was that very noticeable bruise under his jawline, and the words died in her mouth.

"You should cover that up." She mumbled scornfully.

He looked down at her and followed her gaze, then immediately clasped his palm over the mark. He cursed under his breath and hopelessly tried to lift the collar of his shirt to hide it.

She sighed. It was hard to be relentlessly mad at Dai-chan when he was so unawaredly ridiculous. "Use this." She dictated, handing him a couple of band-aids.

Dai-chan glanced at them and frowned momentarily but then suddenly the corners of his mouth pulled down, his eyebrows tilting, his expression turning into one of sadness. She'd been about to ask if he had a problem with her Pikachu and Sylveon patterned band-aids, but before she could do that, he placed the two of them over the hickey, clumsily, barely covering the spot, and muttered a low "thanks".

The rest of the walk to school was quiet.

* * *

Satsuki knocked on the door hesitantly. She felt it wasn't her place to meddle. But she couldn't shake off the feeling of impotence, of wanting to do something, after how things had gone with Dai-chan today. Not only had she failed to figure out what had happened, Dai-chan had barely spoken to her –or to anyone else, really. He'd left his lunch mostly untouched, and even though he attended practice, and his performance hadn't been sloppy, something had been off about it. So instead of suffering another awkwardly quiet walk back home, she invented a last minute excuse and hopped on the first train to Kanagawa. But now that she was standing in front of Kii-chan's house, she couldn't help doubting if this was really the right thing to do.

She remembered how wonderful it had been to see her two friends playing against each other and having fun on that last practice match, barely two days ago, and steeled her determination.

It was one of Kise's sisters that answered. "Yes? Oh! You're Momoi-chan! From Teikou! It's been a while!" she said with a smile. "How're you doing?"

"I-I'm fine, thank you, I'm sorry to come in unannounced." She replied politely, bowing her head slightly. She'd always liked Kii-chan's sisters (even though she could never tell them apart), they were both very smart, beautiful and hard-working. She admired them a lot.

"Don't worry, we were just wondering about calling some of Ryou-chan's friends to cheer him up, he's very dispirited today. He even skipped school, he never does that, and he's not talking to us. He just doesn't seem his usual self."

Satsuki chewed on her lip again. "Well I… I guess I'll do my best to cheer him up!"

Kii-chan's sister nodded and let her in, pointing at the staircase. Satsuki murmured a quick 'sorry for the intrusion' and followed the direction. This was her first time visiting Kii-chan's home after his family had moved to Kanagawa, but it still didn't take her long to identify the correct bedroom. Kii-chan was very spoiled after all, so it wasn't surprising to see a big wooden plaque with the shape of a golden star that read "Ryouta" nailed to one of the doors. She knocked softly, noticing a plate with food laying right by the doorstep, obviously untouched for hours.

She waited a few moments, but no response came, so she sighed and pushed the door open.

"I'm fine, Mom, I just need rest." Came the weak reply. Satsuki followed the shaky voice to the bed, where Kii-chan was lying on top of the bedsheets, curled into a ball with his back turned to the door, his body trembling just slightly, clothes wrinkled as if he'd slept on them. She strolled over to him, and as she did so, she heard the quiet sniffles and noticed the empty box of tissues on the floor.

"That skirt's really cute, Kii-chan." She whispered softly, not knowing what else to say.

He turned to look at her. His eyes were bloodshot, the skin around them red and swollen, his usually smooth cheeks darkened with smeared make-up and tear tracks. Her chest ached. She'd never seen him like this.

"M-m-momocchi…" he whimpered, his voice barely recognizable.

She walked closer and sat on the edge of the bed, giving him a sad but knowing look. That seemed to be the last drop for him, because he broke into a loud sob and tried to hide his face in the mattress.

"I-i-I'm ssorry Momocchi I-I c-c-can't… not n-n-now." He whimpered in between choked cries.

Her eyes started to water. She couldn't stand seeing him like this. This was exactly what she'd wanted to prevent on the many times that she'd warned Dai-chan about this. Of course Kii-chan would be the one most hurt in the end. Why hadn't Dai-chan listened?

She placed her hand on Kise's disheveled golden locks, they were tangled and dry. He probably hadn't showered today.

"Kii-chan I…" she paused, wondering if there was anything she could actually say to make things better. "I'm sorry… I should've intervened before." That wasn't the right thing to say and she knew it.

Kise shook his head. "Don't apologize, Momocchi." He seemed to be just a little bit more in control of his voice now, but every word seemed to hurt him, every breathe sounded strained. "I… I did this to myself… I knew from the… from the start that it was gonna e-e-end like this. I shouldn't have… I n-n-never should've…" whatever he was going to say was cut off by a broken sob that shook through his whole body, and he buried his face in the sheets once again. "C-can we not… I don't want to… t-t-t-talk about it."

She stroked his hair gently, wiping away a stray tear from the corner of her eye.

"Okay."

"Thanks."

They stayed in silence for a while, her fingers carding through his hair gently, his body occasionally wracked by cries and whimpers and shaky breathes. Satsuki could feel a tight, tight knot at the base of her throat, her heart heavy. This wasn't how things were supposed to be. Not after everyone had finally reconciled. Everything had been back to normal just a few months ago, and now it was all ruined again. Was there just no hope for them? Kise and Aomine used to be so close, get along so well, and they were so compatible on the court, but now it felt like they would never go back to be friends again. Her heart dropped to the ground.

There was a soft knock on the door.

"Yes?" she asked, thinking Kii-chan would hardly be able to speak.

"Ryou-chan, you have another visitor."

The door creaked open and a boy came in. Satsuki recognized him immediately.

"Takao-kun?"

She'd only spoken to him a couple of times, and they'd exchanged email addresses for something pertaining Midorin, but she knew he was a very nice guy. She just didn't know what he was doing here.

"Oh, what's up! Sorry for interrupting." He greeted cheerfully. She noticed he was carrying a conbini bag that looked heavy, but she couldn't make out the contents. "Oi, you said yesterday you'd be fine but look at you, you're a wreck!"

Satsuki glared at him. "Leave Kii-chan alone." She spat defensively. What was he thinking? She'd never thought Takao could be so insensitive.

"Sorry Momoi-san, I just think what we need right now is a different kind of pity party." He set his conbini bag on the floor and kneeled by the bed. "Get up man, that skirt's too pretty to be sleeping on it." He said, ruffling Kise's hair softly.

Kii-chan turned to look at him. "T-t-takaocchi." He sniffled.

"Damn, look at you! You spend too much time putting make-up on to let it ruin your face. Come on, get off your ass, you're not gonna let yourself rot over a dude" he pulled out a box of tissues from his bag and forcefully wiped Kise's face, cleaning the tears and mascara trails and leaving just his reddened puffy eyes. "I brought the advanced pity party kit, see? I got this huge bucket of ice cream, the three worst movies of all times, all the tissues money can buy and my mani-pedi kit. I do Shin-chan's fingers all the time, so I know what I'm doing okay? Once your hands and feet are all pretty there'll be no reason to feel miserable."

Momoi observed in astonishment, not knowing how to react, and her surprise only grew when he heard Kii-chan laughing softly.

"Okay." He said simply, wiping the last few tears from his eyes.

She cocked her head. This wasn't quite the development she'd expected, but it certainly looked like this could be the right way to lift Kii-chan's spirits. Perhaps the best thing to do now was to let things breathe and try to help both of her friends feel better by themselves, and then she could try and figure out how to fix their relationship. She smiled a little, determined.

"Alright." She proclaimed "If we're doing a pity party then Kii-chan needs to change his clothes first. Put your pajamas on right away, it'd be a true tragedy if you got wrinkles on your skirt."

Kii-chan smiled the tiniest smile at her and finally climbed off the bed. "You're right. This is one of my favorites too, how careless." He walked over to his closet slowly, as if moving was still hard for him. "I'll be back in a bit." He announced, and shut the closet door behind himself.

Satsuki turned to look at Takao. "I didn't know you and Kii-chan were close."

He chuckled a little, scratching the back of his head. "It's kind of a recent thing. We were just worried."

"We?"

His cheeks turned a little pink. "Ah." He looked away. "Me and Shin-chan."

She quirked an eyebrow. "Why didn't Midorin come?"

"Well, Shin-chan's terrible for relationship advice." He said with a grin, and she nodded in agreement. Then the look in his eyes turned a little sad and he lowered his voice. "We also thought it wouldn't be appropriate and kinda mean if the two of us came together, you know… given the situation."

Her eyes widened in realization. "Oh." Was all she could say. She knew Takao-kun and Midorin were dating, it just hadn't really crossed her mind. "That was… kind of you." She looked down at her own hands. "I'm actually glad you showed up. I… I wanted to comfort Kii-chan but I really had no idea of what to say. I want to help my friends but I can't even think of anything to make them feel better."

"Don't say that, Momoi-san. Both of them are dear friends for you, of course it'd be hard to figure out what to do. I, myself, don't have any attachments to Aomine, so I hope you don't mind if we badmouth him a little."

She shook her head. "No I… he's kind of got it coming, I think."

Takao-kun nodded with a smile

"OK, I'm ready!" Kii-chan chirped, his face already a little brighter. Satsuki smiled.

* * *

Almost an hour into one of the worst movies Kise had ever seen, sitting between Momoi and Takao, his fingernails and toenails filed and smooth, and the bucket of triple chocolate ice cream half gone, he was finally starting to feel a little better. His eyes were still stinging from all that crying, and there was still that dull, heavy ache in his heart, but the room was warm with the company, and he felt loved, without worrying about whether he was imagining it or not.

"Takao-kun wasn't joking about bringing the three worst movies ever made. Is there really anything that can top this?" Momoi commented amused, her strawberry pink eyes fixed on the screen.

"You'd be surprised." Takaocchi replied with a giggle, then he turned to Kise. "When this one finishes, let's paint your nails." He said with a wide grin.

Kise glanced at his fingers. He'd had his nails painted a couple of times for photoshoots, but he'd never actually done it out of his own volition. He remembered trying to copy how Mom did it when he was little, but it always ended in a mess, so he'd given up and never really given it any serious thought again.

"You do that for Midorimacchi too?" he asked, curious.

"I convinced him to let me do it a couple of times during winter break. Shin-chan's hands are very beautiful; it'd be a waste not to take advantage of that." Takao explained, showing him his phone, where there was a photo of a pair of hands with cute frog designs on the fingernails. Kise had never thought of Midorimacchi's hands as "beautiful", but love is blind after all.

"Oh! Can you do the more elaborate nail art stuff?" Momoi squealed in surprise. "Please do mine too, I've always wanted to have cute nails like that!"

"Sure! As long as I have pretty hands to work on, I'll do my magic."

She clapped her hands delighted "I'm so excited now!" she chirped, scooping a spoonful of ice cream and Kise could only smile wider.

When the movie ended (and Kise wasn't quite sure if he wanted to watch the other two, if Takao's claim about them being worse proved true), Takao got up to get his mani-pedi kit and bring it closer to where they were all sitting. He pulled out a couple of tools that Kise had never seen before and a bottle with a clear liquid. "Any design you want? I brought a few of my own polishes, but if you have any request I can do that."

Kise shook his head. "I'll leave it to the artist. Surprise me."

Takao beamed and scooted closer to him. "Cool, I was thinking of doing something bright and spring-like." He pulled out a bottle of pastel yellow polish, a white one and an orange one before extending his hands towards Kise. "Alright, just let me work my magic."

Kise watched with interest as Takao smeared a first layer of the transparent liquid over each of the fingernails on his right hand. He blew on them a little and repeated the process on the left one, then waited for it to dry.

"You know… you don't have to talk if you don't want to, but if you do, we'll listen."

His breath caught in his throat. He _wanted_ to talk about it. But he didn't want to reminisce it all, didn't want to remember the tender kisses, the warmth of Aomine's hand laced with his, the sincerity in Aomine's eyes when he told him he was pretty, how his body vibrated with excitement when they played basketball together, how his blood burned when they had sex. Just the thought of it made his heart clench and god was he sick of hurting. He chewed on his lip, trying to fight back the tears that were already starting to pool at the corners of his eyes, willing himself to focus on Takao's hands and the brush that was smearing polish over his nails.

"It was," he could feel Momocchi sitting right next to him, one of her small hands squeezing his shoulder lightly. "It was all my fault."

* * *

"Daiki, we've told you a million times to empty your pockets before putting your clothes in the laundry." His father scolded him the moment he entered the house. "You're lucky that I'm in a good mood today, next time I'll keep the money and throw everything else in the trash."

Aomine didn't even reply and just waited for his father to give back his stuff. He didn't really remember what he kept in his pockets, hopefully some forgotten loose change. His father handed him two one-hundred-yen coins, which was rather disappointing, and then showed him a small cellphone strap. Aomine's heart sank to the bottom of his stomach.

"I didn't know you were into these." His father said, taking a closer look at the Umbreon figure. "You never really played with the game we got you some time ago. Oh, we actually ended giving it to Satsuki-chan, didn't we? Did you buy this for her? I'm sure she'll be very happy." He grinned teasingly. Aomine frowned. His father had been under the absurd notion that he'd end up marrying Satsuki sooner or later for quite some time. He shuddered at the thought alone.

"It's not… for Satsuki." He remembered Kise's bright smile when they'd bought the matching straps. It felt so very stupid now. Kise had been so excited to go back to his house so they could put them on their gym bags too. Which reminded him that he'd left his gym bag at Kise's house and now it would be horrible to try and get it back, since Kise had suggested they didn't talk for a while. He'd have to deal with his spares for the time being.

His father looked disappointed. "Oh well. Just don't leave it in your pockets again or I'll throw it away." He tossed the strap at him and turned for the kitchen.

Aomine closed his fingers around the little item, the plastic digging into his skin, and headed straight for his bedroom. He vaguely heard his Dad saying what he was cooking for dinner, but considering how little appetite he had, it was hardly important. He collapsed on the bed and rolled to his back, letting the strap dangle from his fingers. He kind of wished his Dad had thrown it away so he wouldn't have to look at it and have yet another reminder of all he'd ruined. But now the mere thought of getting rid of it made his heart clench.

* * *

By the time Kise was done telling the story, Kazunari had finished painting the base of the fingernails with pastel yellow polish, and they were almost done drying. He sighed. He'd already heard most of it a few weeks ago when Kise had first called him about it, but the situation had changed so drastically it was almost like dealing with two completely different things. He blew on Kise's right hand, thinking of what would be the best thing to say. He felt partially responsible for this situation; he'd been the one to advice Kise about trying to seduce Aomine or breaking up with him. He just hadn't imagined Kise would do both things in such a short span of time. And now his friend was hurting and it was his fault for giving him shitty advice.

"Don't beat yourself up about it." He said finally. "Taking his initial offer may not have been the wisest choice but, to be honest, I can't even blame you. I would've done the same."

"Eh? But you and Midorin…"

Kazunari chuckled. "Yeah, we're going steady now, but for a long time I was really convinced that my feelings would forever remain one-sided. I was even considering doing crazy stuff, like asking him to pretend to be my boyfriend and holding hands in public so my fangirls would leave me alone; or telling him that this girl I thought he liked was into him and that I should teach him how to kiss before he tried dating her. Really crazy stuff. If Shin-chan had offered something like Aomine did, I wouldn't have even thought about it, I would've accepted right away."

Kise smiled sadly. "Midorimacchi would never do something like that."

"That's exactly my next point." Kazunari replied. "This isn't your fault. Not entirely at least. It takes two to dance tango after all. You're already having a hard time to be adding extra guilt on top of that."

"That's right! I told Dai-chan to think twice about what he was doing and he didn't listen. You should be angry at him, not yourself."

Kise shook his head and sniffled. He'd started crying again sometime halfway through the tale. "No, I… it wasn't Aominecchi's fault. H-he meant the best, I know it. He was… trying to be considerate with my feelings. I'm the one who knew how it was gonna end and went through with it anyway."

Kazunari chewed on his bottom lip. He wanted to say that saying "it's intention that counts" was absolute bullshit, but there was something he'd been noticing in Kise's story that gave him pause. He hesitated, bringing it up could hurt Kise even deeper, but if his suspicion was right…

"Have you considered that maybe… maybe he's falling in love with you already?"

Kise visibly flinched.

"Just think about it for a second, will you? Based on what you're telling us, it would make sense. I mean, it sounds like he makes a lot of extra effort to make you happy, right? And he's even admitted he enjoys spending time with you too. He's obviously not indifferent to you, that much is pretty clear. Maybe he hasn't completely realized his own feelings yet?"

Kise's hand trembled slightly and Kazunari had to hold it down to make sure the polish wouldn't get ruined. "I-I don't know… I don't… Yesterday I felt so… special, when he looked at me and…" a sob shook his body "But that's the point you're just… you're judging from what I told you, but what if I imagined it all? What if I just convinced myself that I was seeing and hearing things that weren't there? The other night I even… for a moment I thought he was going to say he loved me… How-how absurd right? If I could imagine that much, what's to say I didn't make all the rest up?" he sniffled loudly, trying to rein in his tears. "I can't even trust myself at this point!"

Kazunari chewed on his bottom lip again as he painted peach-colored dots on Kise's pinky and pointer fingers.

"You're not imagining it." Momoi said suddenly, her voice firm, even though she had cried a little at some point. "I can't say if Dai-chan does feel for you like you do for him but I do know him better than anyone. And I can tell that he cares for you a lot more than he'd ever want to admit, so you weren't wrong about that. He's always refused when I asked him to go shopping with me, I don't even bother asking him anymore, but he actually _volunteered_ to go with you Kii-chan. It wasn't hard to notice, how happy he was when he'd been with you too. He was so excited for the practice match that he was on time for morning practice the whole week!" she grabbed a tissue and helped wipe Kise's tears off his cheeks. "I can also tell how much this has affected him. He wasn't himself today, he's not talking to me at all. He was weird at practice too. And I know that…" she seemed to hesitate for a moment "I know he's cried too."

Holding Kise's left hand while he repeated the peach dots pattern on the other hand, he could faintly feel how his friend's pulse picked up as Momoi continued talking. It was a good thing she had come, Kazunari thought, she knew them much better than him, and she obviously loved both of her friends dearly. She was a good ally to have.

"Besides" he continued, pausing to let the polish dry " It's not impossible to have special feelings for more than one person at the same time. Maybe he's confused because he feels something special for you that's different from what he feels for Kuroko and he hasn't figured it out yet." He reasoned softly.

"I know." More tears started to prick the corners of his eyes, and his hand twitched in reflex to wipe them off, but Kazunari held it down once more. "I know it could be like that. But I… I don't even trust myself to know what he's thinking! What if… What if I'm just letting myself get carried away by my wishful thinking? Then when reality kicks in I… Just… just the pain I'm feeling now is bad enough I can hardly breathe and I… I can't do this to myself anymore." He paused, his pulse quickening, his breathing growing labored. "And even if he does… love me and we get together I'll… I'll always have doubts. I'll always wonder if he's just settling down with me because he can't have Kurokocchi. And then I think he'll get sick of me and my insecurities and leave me. And I get so scared.. I… I fear that I'll be so terrified of losing him that I'll lose myself in the process and I..." His face had grown pale, tears once again streaming down his cheeks, his whole body was shaking and he looked like he was having problems breathing. Kazunari dropped the nail polish brush immediately and held him by the shoulders.

"Hey, hey, look at me. It's okay, it's gonna be alright. Take a deep breath for me, can you do that?" he instructed, while Momoi stroked his back soothingly.

Kise looked up to meet his eyes, and after a moment, inhaled deeply, then exhaled slowly.

"I'm s-sorry, I just—"

Momoi shushed him sharply, "Don't apologize, it's okay. Don't hurt yourself over this anymore. If you felt this was what you needed to do now, then it was and we'll support you no matter what, right?"

Kazunari nodded. "Of course, I already told you when we spoke yesterday." If this relationship, or lack thereof, was hurting Kise to the point of making him lose his breath and panic, it was certainly for the best that he'd decided to take a break. But he didn't say that because he remembered how terrified he'd been after blurting out his feelings for Shin-chan, how he'd felt dizzy and sick just thinking he would be rejected and lose Shin-chan's friendship forever. He understood perfectly how it felt to love someone to the point of tearing yourself apart for fear of losing them.

"Besides," he continued, letting go of Kise's shoulders to resume his work on his fingernails. He was almost done. "this is actually a really good thing for both of you. Putting some distance between the two of you might be exactly what you needed to figure it all out one way or another. I think this time that you'll be apart and won't have any excuse to see him or call him will give you the chance to get a new perspective on yourself and your feelings. Think about what you want for the future and from a possible relationship and whether that is something you could reach with Aomine. Whether being with him brings you more pain than being without him and if you'd want to give it a second chance in the eventuality that he may in fact be developing feelings for you. If it's worth it to put your heart on the line like that again. Those kinds of things." He set Kise's right hand to the side, finally done with it, and picked the left one up.

"Midorimacchi must be really rubbing off on you if you're using so many big words in one breathe." Kise said, a faint chuckle at the end. At least that was a good sign.

"Oi, I'm actually smarter than most people think."

"It'll be good for Dai-chan too." Momoi interrupted, scooting over to face Kise. "Based on what you've told us and how I've seen him act in regards to this whole thing, I think right now he's very confused. And maybe this break will help him figure his own feelings out and decide what he wants to do about them. No, I'm certain it will. He'll have to face things sooner rather than later. And once each of you comes up with a resolution, it'll be easier to make things right again, whichever kind of relationship you both choose to have."

"Yes! That's exactly what I was getting to!" Kazunari had been doubtful about mentioning Aomine. A part of him thought that giving Kise hopes about what Aomine may or may not feel about him would be very cruel at this point. But if Momoi who knew them both better than he did agreed, then maybe there was way more hope than it would initially appear.

Kise sniffled one more time and his lips curled in a small, beautiful smile. "Thanks, both of you." He mumbled one last stray tear running down his cheek. "Even if… even if things don't work out in my favor I… I don't want to lose Aominecchi's friendship. And I know he wouldn't want us to stop being friends if he doesn't..." he gasped softly, a tinge of hurt flashing through his eyes, but disappearing quickly. "I'd happily bury my feelings a thousand feet underground if that would patch up our relationship, but I also know he'd never ask me to do that." His smile grew now melancholic, but genuine. "Which I guess is the reason I'd be willing to do it."

Kazunari smiled back at him, gently, thinking just how much they had in common. It almost seemed fate that they would meet and become friends. He put the cap on the bottle of transparent polish, hoping he could at least be the kind of friend Kise needed in this moment of hardship. Then he blew on both of Kise's hands and grinned in satisfaction.

"I'm done here." He announced, lifting the fingers up to Kise's eye level, feeling rather pleased with his work.

He could see Kise's face light up immediately. "Oh my god, Takaocchi this is so cute! Thanks so much, you're a genius, it's perfect!" he squealed excited, as if he hadn't had a mild nervous breakdown just a few moments ago. He'd painted a pastel yellow base to all of Kise's fingernails, adding peach-colored dots on the pointer and pinky fingers, a cute fox tail on the ring finger whilst the head of the animal was painted on the middle finger.

"Oh my god, it's super cute!" Momoi squealed too, adding to the excitement. "Your fingers look so beautiful, Kii-chan!"

Kise giggled, delighted. "They totally do! I almost feel like quitting basketball just to be able to have cute nails all the time!"

Kazunari laid back a little, relieved and happy to see that he'd at least been able to make Kise feel better.

* * *

"It's getting late, we should get going." Momoi announced, looking at the time on her cellphone screen after the third movie was over.

Kise felt a little crestfallen. He kind of didn't want his friends to leave. But he couldn't ask them for more, they'd already done so much for him today, way more than he could've ever hoped for.

"Ah, I think I'm actually staying over." Takao announced.

"Eh?"

"I'm too lazy to go back right now, my place is very far from the train station and I won't get there before the last bus runs."

Momoi stared at Takao for a second, and it almost seemed like they were having a silent conversation.

"If Takao-kun's staying over, then so am I."

"Eh? But Momocchi, your perfect attendance score!"

She chewed on her lower lip, clearly conflicted. "K-keeping you company's way more important than that. If Takao-kun can miss school one day, so can I." She said finally, crossing her arms over her chest.

Kise smiled to himself. He truly was fortunate to have such good friends. "It's okay, Momocchi. I'd feel really guilty if you got in trouble for me. I'm already really happy that you came all the way here to comfort me." He chuckled. "Since there are so many guys who would give everything to be comforted by Momocchi, I feel very lucky and special." He showed her a toothy grin. "Besides, it would be scandalous if you spent the night with these two handsome bachelors." He added playfully, wrapping an arm around Takao's shoulders, who was mumbling 'I'm not a bachelor, though.'

Momoi laughed. "Okay, if you say so."

They walked her to the door. Before turning away, she looked at Kise straight in the eye, her face serious. "Kii-chan" she said, holding both of Kise's hands in hers and squeezing them tight. "Everything's going to be alright. You and Dai-chan are my friends and I love you and want you to be happy."

Kise smiled, squeezing her hands back. "Thanks Momocchi. Thanks so much for today I… I really needed it. I don't really know what I would've done if you guys hadn't come."

Momoi released his hands and hugged him tight. "Anytime you need me I'll come running, okay? That's what friends are for."

He nodded. "Text me when you're home, so I know you got back safe."

"I will. And let's do something again soon, okay? Don't stay up too late, Kii-chan has to go back to school tomorrow."

"'s okay Momoi-san, I'll make sure he gets his beauty sleep."

She waved at them and laughed.

* * *

"Hey Takaocchi, is it really okay to stay the night? What about your morning practice tomorrow?"

"Isn't it a bit too late to be worrying about that? Last train leaves in like five minutes."

"Okay, but isn't Midorimacchi gonna get mad if he finds out of this arrangement?"

Both of them were lying under the covers in Kise's bed, side by side, but with almost no space between their bodies due to the size of the mattress. The idea of pulling out the spare futon was briefly considered, but they were too lazy to do it, and Kise kind of didn't want to sleep on an empty bed. He hadn't said it, but he was pretty sure Takaocchi had inferred it on his own.

"Nah, Shin-chan understands. You're a dear friend for him, even if he'll never actually admit it, you know? Don't tell him I told you, now _that_ would make him mad." Takao had his arms folded behind his head, and was staring at the empty ceiling.

"I guess Midorimacchi also trusts that you wouldn't betray him."

"Yeah, he does."

The dreamy sparkle in Takao's eyes when he said that made Kise's heart hurt. He wanted what they had so badly. For moments, it felt so unfair that Midorimacchi had found love so easily and painlessly, while he was dealt with three years of unrequited feelings and a fake relationship that had crashed and burned, taking his heart along for the ride. He hated himself for feeling that way. Midorima and Takao were his friends, and they were both kind and wonderful and totally deserved to be happy. And he was glad for them, for finding love and happiness in each other. But he couldn't help those ugly, disgusting sparks of jealousy for that one thing he'd yearned for so long and seemingly couldn't get.

"Is that the reason Midorimacchi didn't come?" he mused out loud.

"Hm?"

"Like… you guys decided it would be painful for me to see you two all happy and lovey-dovey while I'm like… well like this." His chest felt tight, but he successfully managed to fight back the tears. He was over that, done with crying.

"Well Shin-chan and I aren't really lovey-dovey, he's very committed to his tsundere archetype, especially the _tsun tsun_ part of it."

"Oh, come on, I've seen your photos on Facebook."

"It takes a lot of bargaining to get him to pose for a photo though. And he totally hates PDA, so he won't take part if there's any chance of people seeing us. That's why I don't really have that many." Takao huffed, puffing his cheeks in a pout.

Kise chuckled a little.

"And anyway, the point is that Oha-Asa said Scorpio had a very high compatibility with Gemini today. And that Cancer and Gemini are a poor match because their understanding of emotions is very different. So there was no argument to be had on the matter."

This time, Kise broke in laughter. "That definitely sounds like Midorimacchi."

They chuckled lightly for a moment, and then there was a breath of silence. Kise's hands were laying flat on his stomach, his eyes following the cracks and crevices of the ceiling, which he already knew by heart. Takao had helped him change the bedsheets and pillowcases, so nothing remained of Aomine's awful stench. And yet, just thinking about it made his eyes sting. He didn't want to cry anymore, so he tried to control his breathing and hold back any sniffles, but he wasn't being really successful.

"Hey Kise?" Takao whispered softly, and he felt slender fingers wrap around one of his hands. "You can let it out."

The words made a tear slip down his cheek. He bit his lip, trying to muffle the sob he could feel climbing up his chest.

"It's okay… it's better actually. I know you don't want us to worry, that you want to be strong and get over this fast but you also have to let yourself go. Grieve what you lost. You need to let your wounds bleed before they can start healing."

More tears pooled at the corners of his eyes. "But I…" he didn't really trust himself to speak "I already did it… s-so much." That restrained sob finally broke him. "I'm tired. _Tired_. Of crying, I-I don't want to! It's not… crying won't solve anything!"

He felt Takao turn to face him, although he couldn't make out his features in the darkness of the room. "So what." He enunciated clearly. "What if it won't solve anything? Not crying won't solve anything either. You should be free to feel sad and heartbroken, and to let all that sadness out. And once you're done, truly done, then you can take the next step forward and start healing for real. And all of us will be here for you every step of the way. You have many friends that love and cherish you, and that won't change, no matter how much you cry."

Kise could feel his heart nested at the base of his throat, even as his chest felt warmer than before. He felt safe reminiscing all the love and comfort his friends had given him today, and that made the tears prickle hotter in the corners of his eyes. When Takao squeezed his hand one more time, he couldn't hold it back anymore. All those tears that burned his eyes finally streamed down his cheeks again. He covered his eyes with his arm, a breathy sob pouring out of his lips.

"I really… r-really love him…" it was hard to believe he still had so many tears left to cry. "I love him so…" Another sob, heavier, sharper " _so_ much."

Takao's arms pulled him into a gentle embrace. "I know." He said quietly, tucking Kise's head under his chin and stroking his hair gently. "I know you do."

He never knew how long it took him to fall asleep.

 **To be continued**

I'm soooo sorry it took so long to get this out! Lots of stuff going on (including a creative slump) has been getting on the way.

I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter, since I've been very excited about showing more of Kise's friendship with Takao, and Takao's complicity with Momoi

Thanks so much for your continued support and patience. There's only three more chapters left (or maybe four, it'll depend), so I hope everyone's read for the climax of this ride. I'm basically about to fall asleep on my computer at this point, so I'll leave it at that. I'll be looking forward to your thoughts and opinions!


	13. It does not do to dwell on dreams

**Warning** : If any elements of non-con trigger you, stop reading after "There's no one that would love me this much". If you think you can stomach it I'd encourage you to read it because I promise it makes sense in context and it's not quite what is sounds like, but don't force yourselves either, the last thing I want is to hurt y'all.

 **It does not do to dwell on dreams**

Aomine fidgeted nervous, hesitant, his eyes fixed on the white door he pretended to knock. His fist was already in the air, hovering an inch away from the target, but he didn't dare to take that extra step. He looked down to his other hand, holding the small gift box, and remembered how much effort he'd put into getting this perfect present. He breathed in and out once, steeling his determination, and finally knocked three times.

The door opened immediately, almost as if the other person had been waiting for someone to arrive. Bright gold inundated his vision. "Aominecchi!" Kise greeted, as cheerfully as ever. He looked gorgeous today, with a black v-neck t-shirt that had a flare at the bottom and dark red skinny jeans that made his legs look like they were ten kilometers long. He drank in the vision with less shame than he should before stepping into the house.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming? I would've dressed up a little!" Kise continued, his back turned to him, as he skipped down the hallway (Aomine didn't remember any hallways like this one in Kise's house, but then again his eyes were always too busy on Kise to notice the surrounding architecture).

Aomine eyed him again, from head to toe, and quirked an eyebrow. "Can you even dress up further than this? You already look amazing." He heard himself say before he could stop the words from flowing out of his mouth. He wasn't sure if he should be ashamed or flat out amazed that he'd been able to speak what he felt so straightforwardly.

Kise's eyes widened , and his pale cheeks turned pink. "A-aominecchi you idiot, flattery will get you n-nowhere." He sputtered bashfully.

Aomine felt his lips curl into a smile. It was just way too satisfying to watch the usually confident and arrogant Kise tripping over his own words and blushing in embarrassment.

"What even brings you here anyway?"

That reminded him of the present in his hand, and he lifted it to Kise's eye level.

"It's your birthday, right? I just thought I'd bring you something. I think you'll like it."

Kise's demeanor changed to one of excitement as he grabbed the box, opened it unceremoniously and pulled out a keychain. Recognition flashed through his golden eyes, and his whole expression brightened as he squealed.

"Oh my god, Aominecchi, I can't believe it!" he shook the item energetically. "You went all the way to Kyoto just to get me the special edition _maiko_ Pikachu!" he inspected the trinket, marveling at the details. "See? I totally told you the one they had there was different to the regular one!"

Aomine looked at the item, and he realized it looked exactly like the one they'd seen in the Yokohama shop. But he was sure it had looked different when he'd bought it, although he couldn't remember _how_ different. He felt confused, but since Kise liked it, he didn't say anything.

"It's so cute, oh my god, thank you! Thank you so much Aominecchi, this is perfect!" And for the first time, Kise looked up and their eyes met, a dazzlingly bright smile enlightening his beautiful face. Heat rose to Aomine's cheeks, and he felt his heart thumping loudly in his chest, so loud he could hear it thundering in his ears, and getting louder, louder, almost like a hollering voice calling for him…

"Aomine, wake the fuck up!"

He jumped off his seat to find the captain staring down at him angrily. "The train's about to leave the station, numbskull, you wanna' go all the way to Osaka?"

It took him a moment to remember they'd taken the _shinkansen_ to Kyoto for their practice match against Rakuzan. It was his first time taking this train and had been mildly been looking forward to it, but once inside it didn't really feel all that fast, so he'd ended falling asleep.

And having a dream about Kise. His chest tightened painfully. One would think that two weeks would be enough time to start getting over it. It hadn't even been a proper break-up because they were never in a proper relationship. Yet, he couldn't stop these feelings of emptiness, as if something big and important was missing in his life now that he didn't get a flood of emoji-loaded texts on his phone every day.

Even though Kise had been the one to suggest they didn't talk for a while, he was apparently intent on invading his dreams and disrupting his sleep as often as possible. Most of the dreams were short and incoherent and hard to remember, just blurry visions of sunshine-like smiles, the muffled sound of a voice calling his name, butterfly-like lingering feelings of touches and kisses that he really shouldn't even be thinking about. But this dream had been so vivid and real it was almost hard to believe it hadn't been so. He _knew_ that it wasn't, but thinking about it just worsened his heart ache.

"Dai-chan, Akashi-kun will be very upset if we're late."

He snapped himself back to reality and hurried to grab his bag and follow Satsuki outside of the train. The rest of the team was sending him unamused glares, someone even muttering "should've just left him there". He didn't bother paying attention to that.

This was his first time in Kyoto, but given the city's fame and reputation, he hadn't expected the train station to look so… modern. As they climbed down a set of escalators, he could've been fooled to believe they were in Osaka or Nagoya (not that he'd ever visited any of those cities either). He'd expected it to be more different to Tokyo, more… traditional.

"Hey, hold on, aren't we taking the Metro?" he asked when he realized they were exiting the station and heading towards a parking lot.

Satsuki looked back at him "There are no subway or train lines that run close to Rakuzan. They sent a bus to take us there because it's a little into the mountains."

He was about to ask why such a prestigious school was hidden in the mountains and so poorly located that it didn't have any subway lines nearby, but he swallowed the thought when he saw the bus the school had sent. The design already screamed VIP, and the driver was wearing a very expensive-looking suit. Coach Harasawa exchanged a few words with the driver and then signed for the team to get on the bus. The inside was so ridiculously luxurious, Aomine didn't even want to think about how much the school must cost. The seats were wide and comfortable, and each had a small screen. The driver explained they could use the screens to read from a vast selection of academic books and magazines, but that they would be taking a scenic route, so he recommended they enjoyed the sight of the city.

Aomine chose a window seat, hoping the ride wouldn't be long. He didn't want to fall asleep again and have another one of those dreams.

The "scenic route" meant driving alongside the river, and Aomine quickly noticed the differences with Tokyo. While the train station had looked very modern, the residential areas they passed were very old-fashioned. He also noticed that there were no skyscrapers, not even relatively tall buildings. The only things that stood out from the city's skyline were the hideous Kyoto Tower right outside the station, and the temples' pagodas, of which there were quite a few.

Soon, the scenery changed from old houses, to a more modern-looking commercial area. He caught sight of something bright and yellow and he whipped his neck quickly to see a tall building –at least taller than the average he'd seen so far-, apparently a shopping mall, which among many other signs with names of popular stores had a large sign that read "Pokemon Center Kyoto", with a big picture of a Pikachu riding an orange bird (Aomine had a feeling he should know the name since it was supposed to be legendary or something. It kind of looked like a Suzaku?) Memories lit up inside his mind, visions of Kise squeezing a plushie and squealing in delight, mixed with flashes of his dream, of Kise's dazzling smile and the joy in his expression when holding the figure he wanted, the delighted flush on his cheeks, and Aomine couldn't help wondering…

"Hey, Satsuki…? D'you think we could…?" Maybe if they had some free time after the game he could come back and…

"Ugh, I can't believe we won't have the chance to go sight-seeing, I was dying to try that famous matcha shop in Gion." Satsuki whined unhappily. "Sorry, did you say something, Dai-chan?"

His heart dropped in disappointment. "Nah, 's nothing." He replied dismissively, taking his eyes away from the building. What had he expected, really. Even if he could come back and get that maiko Pikachu Kise wanted, what would he accomplish with that? Or rather, what did he _want_ to accomplish? Fix their friendship? Surely he didn't want to go back to the uncertainty and confusion of their half-assed relationship. Kise wouldn't want it either.

He chewed on his lip. The last time he'd seen Kise, he'd looked horribly hurt, as if he were about to cry, and the memory alone made Aomine's heart ache. He couldn't help wondering if, like in his dream, that keyring would be enough to put a smile back on Kise's face.

* * *

Breathing was not supposed to be so hard -not even after an intense championship game and definitely not after a regular practice match- but that felt rather meaningless compared to the feeling of utter humiliation and anger that boiled in his chest.

"Please do sort out whatever it is that is troubling you, Aomine. I do not tolerate to have my time wasted." Akashi sentenced coldly, the disappointment evident in his eyes.

Aomine couldn't even blame him for his harsh tone. His performance had been pathetic at best. He didn't remember feeling so powerless on the court, not ever in his entire life. Basketball was supposed to be easy, fun, the one place where he was entirely free. But this time his legs had felt heavy and his fingers didn't recognize the feel of the ball. Every time he thought of trying something, he remembered that practice game with Kise in Golden Week and the thrill of being so evenly matched, the image of Kise dribbling the ball with that toothy, cocky grin on his face ingrained in his mind, and then he'd find himself tripping on his own feet, or taking a wrong step and having the ball stolen from him, and worst of all, missing at least half of his shots.

He finally managed to get back on his feet, but he didn't dare meet Akashi's eyes. "Sorry, won't happen again." He said simply, quietly, biting his lip in frustration.

Satsuki approached them with a look of concern, but he really didn't feel like being here any longer. He just wanted to go to sleep and forget about this game and these ugly feelings in his chest, and that stupid Pokemon Center and the smile he might never get to see outside of his dreams again.

* * *

Aomine glared at his wristwatch. He kind of hated himself for arriving twenty minutes earlier than agreed. Maybe he should go take a walk around the block and arrive "fashionably late" (he also hated that he knew that expression), otherwise that fucking idiot would tease him to hell and back about being "eager" and shit.

Before he could put his plan into action, he heard a delighted squeal and his name being called in an annoyingly high-pitched voice.

"Aominecchi!" the squeal threatened to burst his eardrums, "How surprising that you're actually early! Were you that eager to see me?"

Aomine rolled his eyes almost hard enough to send them into the back of his own skull. Was it more irritating that his prediction had come true or that he knew Kise well enough to predict exactly what he'd say? The prideful side of his brain wanted to say the latter, but the burning blush on his cheeks obviously thought that what was truly irritating was that Kise was in fact right in his assumptions.

Once he'd forced the blush off his face, he turned to look at Kise, and felt himself grow hot all over again. He was wearing baggy black pants with the crotch hanging almost as low as the knees, and they might've looked like pajamas if not for all the striking white and silver zippers and pockets and belts that decorated the hips and thighs. His sneakers were flat with red and black checkers and he was wearing the blouse they'd bought on the mall last time, half-assedly tucked into the pants, probably on purpose to add to the slouchy look. And Aomine hated that even such a lazy get up was still breathtaking when it was Kise wearing it.

"You're… wearing _that_." He heard himself say, his voice almost a low grunt that he barely recognized as his own.

Kise looked up at him with sparkling eyes and smiled wide and blinding. "What, this?" he asked coyly, pointing at the blouse. "Of course I am! It's my favorite! It's the one Aominecchi chose for me after all!" he twirled to punctuate the phrase, the loose fabric of the clothes flowing light and free with the movement.

"I-I didn't really ch-choose it!" he protested, unable to look away at the same time that he wished he could, just so Kise couldn't see the blush spreading hotter over his face. "You were gonna' pick it up on your own anyway."

The twinkle in Kise's golden eyes grew mischievous, and he skipped the short steps that separated them until their noses were almost bumping against each other.

"That's even better, isn't it?" his pale hands cupped Aomine's cheeks, and they felt soft and smooth and tender. Aomine leaned into the touch before he could think about it. "It means Aominecchi and I have a special _connection_."

Aomine's heart skipped a beat. He swallowed thickly, entranced by Kise's eyes, how they reflected the light to look like swirling pools of gold. A connection? Did he really have such a thing with Kise? His pulse accelerated and he was all too conscious of how close Kise was, how warm his hands felt. He closed his eyes to relish on those sensations. He tilted his head to the side just slightly to brush his lips against Kise's palm, and he was so close he felt him shiver.

"A-aominecchi…" he breathed, inching even closer.

"Kise, I…" he opened his eyes again to lock them on Kise's. He placed his hands on top of Kise's and rubbed his knuckles with his thumbs. His blood was burning and his heart was booming inside his chest.

"Yes?" Kise's voice was barely a whisper, but he was so, so close, Aomine could almost taste him.

"About you, I…" he could feel the words at the base of his throat, ready to be spoken because they were true, and real, as real as the warmth of Kise's hands on his cheeks "I'm—"

"Daiki, dinner's ready! If you think you're gonna be skipping any more meals you're sorely mistaken."

Aomine's eyes shot open to find not the golden pools that had mesmerized him in his dream, but his mother's dark blues, a mirror of his own, wallowed in worry. He exhaled heavily, trying to bring his breathing back to a normal rhythm and clear the fogs of sleep from his mind.

"O-ok Mom. I… I'm coming down i-in a minute." He managed to stutter, forcing himself to sit up.

She sat on the edge of his bed and placed her hand on top of his head.

"Daiki, talk to me. This isn't you at all, and I have no idea of how to help you. _Please_ , tell me what's going on, I can't stand seeing you like this."

A knot tightened at the base of his throat. Was it really so evident? Did he truly look so miserable that even Mom could tell? He swallowed and took a deep breath.

"It's okay Mom. 's just stress from school and shit."

She sighed. She looked disappointed. "I'll be here when you're ready, ok?" she said quietly, stroking his cheek with the palm of her hand before getting up. "Dinner's getting cold, don't take long." She said finally before stepping out.

He bit his lip. His chest felt tight. The lingering warmth of her hand on his face made the edges of dream and reality feel fuzzy, and his mind was stuck in the feeling of that tender touch that had seemed so real. He rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hand, still stinging from sleep (that's what he told himself anyway), and ignored the faint dampness left on his skin.

* * *

The lunchtime bell chimed loudly, and with it, students' chattering rose, turning the quiet classroom into a maelstrom of noise in a matter of seconds. Aomine groaned. All he wanted for lunchtime was to take a short nap: long enough to get him some rest, but not so long as to get plagued with one of those dreams. He hadn't been getting much sleep as of late thanks to that.

He heard the sound of a chair being turned around and pulled back and someone plopping down on it. He looked up to find Satsuki sitting across his desk, her expression stern. She hadn't asked any more questions since the first day, but from her looks of concern and pity, it was obvious she knew _everything_. Maybe she'd talked to Kise.

His heart raced. The thought hadn't occurred to him before, but maybe Satsuki was in touch with Kise. Maybe she could tell him how Kise was doing, if he was still hurt over what he'd said before, if maybe he'd be willing to talk again, or play basketball together, or…

He forced the thoughts out of his mind. It did him no good to dwell on this whole thing any more than he already did. He'd already promised to give Kise space and time. It was his fault that Kise had gotten so hurt after all. He owed him this much.

"Dai-chan, you have to listen when people talk to you!"

He shook his head and looked up at her again. She had placed a large bento box on the desk and pushed it across so it was right under Aomine's nose.

"Aren't you eating lunch with your friends?" Aomine found himself asking, eyeing the food with little interest.

She huffed. "Oba-san told me to make sure you ate your lunch. She says you're skipping meals. The In-High starts in a couple of weeks, but if I don't see you eating properly, I'm telling the Coach to bench you. You're doing no good to yourself or the team like this."

Aomine scowled, but knew she was right. He'd been doing pretty poorly at practice for the last few weeks. Not Teikou-First-Year-Tetsu horrible, but definitely way below what he knew he was capable of. Bakagami would probably be able to kick his ass in three seconds in his current condition. He picked an octopus-shaped sausage with his chopsticks and chewed on it with little enthusiasm. He didn't have much appetite these days, but he couldn't let Satsuki take basketball away from him.

Satsuki sighed, and her expression softened from reproachful to concerned. "Dai-chan…" she seemed to hesitate, but then looked at him square in the eye, determination laced in with the worry of her gaze. "You don't have to tell me what happened if you don't want to. I'll listen when you're ready. But please take more care of yourself. Everyone's worried about you."

He swallowed a piece of eggroll, not meeting her eyes, and just grunted to signal that he'd heard. Satsuki didn't seem too pleased with his attitude, but didn't say anything else.

"Have you read Kise-kun's article yet?"

 _That_ grabbed his attention. His fingers twitched.

"I couldn't! I saw the magazine, but I won't get my allowance until the weekend!"

"He looks so handsome on the cover, I wouldn't be surprised if they sold out before that."

"No! Don't say that!"

It was all Aomine could do not to turn and glare at the girls that had brought up that topic with such terrible timing. From the corner of his eye, he saw the excitement in their faces as one of them pulled a magazine out of her backpack, and both of them squealed loudly when they opened it, presumably in the page with Kise's article.

 _Kise's article._

He practically jumped off his seat, dropping his chopsticks to the ground.

"Sorry Satsuki, I forgot Mom asked my help to move some shit, I've to head home early." He spat, barely remembering to grab his bag before dashing out the door. He had a feeling Satsuki wouldn't buy his bullshit excuse –and he vaguely heard her voice calling out to him-, but he didn't care about that right now. He also heard a couple of teachers yelling at him as he ran past them, but his mind was tunnel-focused on one thing only and he wasn't really all that aware of his surroundings.

When he arrived at home, he kicked his shoes off at the entrance and stormed into his room. He heard his father's voice, but paid it no mind. He closed the door once he was inside, and only then did he allow himself to take a moment and breathe. His eyes roamed over the room, juggling the memories inside his head and trying to figure it out.

 _Where the fuck did I put it?_

The day Kise had called it quits, Aomine had been carrying a magazine with photos and an article about Kise's temporary break from modeling. And Kise had written something inside it, a message for him, but hadn't let him read it at the time. But what had he done with it after Kise left? The memories of the trip back home were fuzzy and distant, all he could remember was the sound of his own heart dropping to the ground when he'd received Kise's message. Did he have it in his hands at the time? He did remember that he wasn't carrying any sort of bag or backpack, so logically, he would've had to be carrying it in his hands, but he had no recollection of what he'd done with it when he arrived home.

In fact, he didn't remember _if_ he'd arrived with it at home.

Fright constricted his heart.

 _What if I dropped it?_

His breathing was labored, dread and agitation creeping up his spine.

 _No, no way, it has to be here. It fucking has to be here._

He looked underneath his bed and pulled out everything that was in there to make sure

 _I can't lose it._

He searched under his bedsheets and emptied the drawer of his nightstand, the box of condoms he'd gotten two months ago, falling to the floor.

 _Shit shit shit._

He became frantic. He pulled out all of his clothes from his wardrobe, all of the books and magazines on his shelves, emptied his spare gym bag and school bag, even pulled out boxes he knew he hadn't touched in years. It had to be there, somewhere. Anywhere. It just had to.

The room was a legitimate disaster. Aomine looked at the mess and felt his gut clench painfully. Without even thinking, he plunged into the catastrophe and looked under any piece of clothing, any book, any training gear that existed in his entire bedroom; moved his bed to look at the corner, turned the mattress over, searched inside the pillow case, even opening books and magazines to make sure the one he wanted wasn't inside another one.

By the time the sky turned dark, he'd searched every nook and cranny of the room.

It was no use.

His hands were shaking, and he sat with his back against the wall, trying to recover his breath. He curled his fingers into fists and dug his teeth on his lower lip. The magazine wasn't here. He'd lost it. Maybe dropped it when Kise had walked away, maybe on the train, maybe even in Tokyo Station. He felt a hollow disappointment growing in his gut as he tried to remember how Kise looked in that photo, and how he'd grinned proudly when signing the inside pages.

 _I'll never know what it said._

* * *

Aomine trembled with anticipation. The room was warm, maybe even a little too hot, but his muscles were so tense with impatience, he couldn't even move. His eyes were fixed on the wardrobe door. He tapped his fingers on his naked thigh, a wave of shame and self-consciousness washing over him. He felt ridiculous, sitting here in his underwear only, already half hard, his blood running like fire through his body and his heart thundering loudly in his chest. Maybe this would all end with him getting laughed at. That seemed to be a recurring theme whenever he found himself naked in the same room as _him_.

"Sorry for making you wait!" a sing-song voice reached his ears, and the door creaked open as Kise skipped into the room, his expression radiant. "I wanted to make sure everything was perfect for Aominecchi's special request." He intoned, a naughty glint catching in his eyes. "So? Is this what you wanted?"

Aomine had no idea of what Kise was talking about, even though he felt like he should. He swallowed the lump in his throat and allowed his eyes to scan over Kise's figure. He was wearing black eyeliner that gave his eyes that devilishly alluring cat-like shape, but this time it looked thicker and darker than usual, and even more enticing. His chest was bare, all perfect porcelain skin and taut muscles. His eyes stopped at Kise's waistline, and he felt all the blood in his body rushing south, burning everything in its path.

 _Shit._

Kise grinned mischievously. "Oho? I thought you were just kidding before, I never imagined Aominecchi would get so turned on by this. You really are a pervert after all, aren't you?"

Aomine wanted to retort, maybe bite Kise's mouth to make him shut up, but he was too lost in the slope of the black skirt falling to Kise's upper thighs, the soft rustle of the fabric against skin, his long, _long_ , beautiful legs smooth and naked, and then that cheeky motherfucker actually twirled around, making the skirt flap with the movement, showing little glimpses of the fact that he wasn't wearing anything underneath.

Kise hummed, pleased. "Someone's happy to see me." he sang, suddenly right in front of him, his hand softly pressing the bulge on Aomine's boxers, making him whimper.

He couldn't let Kise have the upper hand from the get go, so he had to force his brain to _stop-staring-at-those-legs_ and instead directed his eyes up at Kise's. "You're one to talk." He accussed, quickly pointing at the noticeable tent on the front of the skirt. He wrapped his hand around the hardening length, letting the fabric around it add to the movement and friction, and it was with much pleasure that his ears caught a soft cry.

"N-no, st-op. I'm—r-really sensitive right now I…" he felt Kise squirm, so he grabbed him by the waist with both hands to keep him from stepping away.

He smirked and licked his lips, looked up to see Kise's pale cheeks were already flushed crimson. "Alright, alright, I stopped just like you asked. But since I did what you wanted, now I get to do something I want, right?"

Kise's eyes widened in understanding. "W-wai—" but Aomine didn't let him finish before leaning forward to press his lips against the head of Kise's cock, laying hot, wet open-mouthed kisses on it through the fabric. Kise threw his head back and moaned loud and unraveled, his hips bucking forward. Aomine pulled back a little, letting Kise chase after the heat of his mouth for a second. When Kise whined for more, Aomine leaned forward again, pressing the flat of his tongue against the underside of Kise's cock. He licked his way up to the head, feeling it throb through the skirt that already showed a wet spot of precum. It wasn't entirely pleasant, the texture of the fabric wasn't the best thing to feel in his mouth, but Kise's wanton moans made it all worth it.

His own cock was pulsating in his boxers, begging for attention, but it was not yet the time for that. Still, there was no need to torture himself, so he pulled his boxers down to at least relieve himself from the constricted space, then turned his attention back to Kise's clothed erection, licking the damp spot over the head.

"Aomine—cchi no…" Kise groaned, his legs quivering. "I won't—la-ast"

Aomine smirked at that. One of his hands grazed Kise's ankle and started sneaking its way up his beautiful leg, feeling the smooth skin, the perfectly shaped muscles , slowly, torturously so, crawling up his knee and lifting the skirt just slightly before moving to his inner thigh, his fingers tantalizingly close to the prize. Kise whined, needy and incomprehensible, one of his hands digging into Aomine's hair, and bucked his hips again, his cock rubbing against Aomine's cheek.

Aomine moved his hand away from Kise's crotch, gliding slowly around his thigh to find Kise's firm buttcheeks and squeeze teasingly, earning himself a gasp. He groaned in satisfaction and allowed his hand to pull apart from Kise's flesh. Kise mewled in protest.

"P-pleaaaase…" he whined, and Aomine made the mistake of looking up to meet his eyes, glazed over with lust "T-touch me… _more_ …".

He could've come right there and then, untouched, and was surprised at himself for not doing so. How could he possibly deny such a shameless request? He licked his lips, and the next time Kise's hips bucked forward, he squeezed his butt with his free hand again and sucked the head of his cock into his mouth. He didn't even have time to feel uncomfortable by the size of it because Kise screamed out loud and the next he knew, he was tasting Kise's cum through the soaked fabric.

"Fuck, that really tastes like shit." He groaned, spitting what little fluid had made it into his mouth.

"Serves you damn right." Kise panted, collapsing to his knees. "I'm gonna have to wash that off my skirt, goddamn it, and it's my favorite one! I fucking hate you!"

Aomine chuckled. "You were the one who agreed to this in the first place." He was still painfully hard, but at this point he wasn't sure of how willing Kise would be to continue

"W-well I did, b-but y-you never said you were gonna d-do _that_. The deal was completely different!"

"Since you're bringing that up," he interrupted, eyeing Kise, how his chest rose and fell with his heavy breathing, how small droplets of sweat trailed down his abdomen, how… "Hey, what the fuck, isn't that supposed to go down after you cum? What's up with that?"

Kise followed Aomine's gaze towards his crotch and yelped in surprise when he found the tent on his skirt as high and proud as it ever had been.

"H-how the hell should I know?"

"You're supposed to be the one with experience!"

"Well yeah but…"

Kise's eyes now scanned Aomine's naked body. A spark of realization lit in his eyes and a smirk that spelled no good for anyone spread on his lips when his gaze found Aomine's thick and hard cock. He licked his lips and crawled towards him, his eyes oozing desire and lust.

"Maybe Lil' Me won't be done until Aominecchi's wish is satisfied." He proposed, barely grazing Aomine's length with his fingertips. "I presume you haven't changed your mind about _that_ , have you?"

Aomine groaned and swallowed. He felt just a little humiliated to realize that Kise had turned the tables on him so easily, but he couldn't stop to think about that when every inch of his body was burning, and God, Kise looked _so beautiful_ in that skirt, it was a wonder he was even able to contain his hunger.

"Of course I haven't."

"Perfect."

Next thing he knew, he'd been pushed to lie on his back, Kise's hands caging him against the wooden floor, the heat of his body seeping into Aomine's, his golden eyes hovering a few inches above him. His lips looked too pale for Aomine's liking, he wanted to kiss them red right now. But before he could do that, he felt teeth gnawing at his pulse, lightly pulling the skin into the warmth of Kise's mouth, and Aomine heard himself gasp. Kise's hands were roaming over his chest, lightly scratching his pectorals before trailing downwards to his abdomen, splaying his fingers over his hipbones and tracing the strong edges with his thumbs.

Aomine gasped again, vibrating with desire, his body shaking every time Kise bit the skin on his neck. He'd have a hard time covering all that shit up tomorrow, and he didn't care.

"Stop teasing, asshole." He managed to grunt, kicking his boxers off and spreading his legs, a twinge of shame and hesitation keeping him from going too wide.

Kise giggled and pulled back, his lips wet and slightly swollen just from kissing his neck full of bruises. "Patience is a virtue." He chirped teasingly, sitting back nonetheless to get comfortable in between Aomine's legs. One of his hands moved from his hipbone to trail down his thigh and grab a hold of his ankle, lifting his leg to nuzzle his calf. "I've always thought Aominecchi has the finest legs." He mused. "So strong…" he sank his teeth on the flesh and immediately licked the wound as if to apologize, which made Aomine growl low. Kise was apparently hellbent on leaving him marked from head to toe, and he blushed when he realized he didn't mind that thought all that much.

Out of the blue, he felt a slick digit nudging at his entrance, and when he found Kise's eyes, they sparkled naughtily.

"You know, I'd figured Aominecchi was a pervert, I just never thought your perversion would be so… specific." He teased, rising to his knees, just in case Aomine had forgotten about that skirt he was wearing (he hadn't). Aomine winced when Kise's fingers started probing inside him, but the sight of Kise's beautiful silhouette took the discomfort out of his mind.

"If you're gonna make a stink about it every two minutes, you can take that shit off and get this shit over with."

Kise laughed that little laugh of his that was like music and made Aomine's ears tingle. "Oh, I wouldn't do that. I said I wanted to satisfy Aominecchi fully after all." He added a second finger and Aomine bit back a groan. "I'll admit it makes me a little happy that Aominecchi wants me like this." He confessed, his voice quieter than before, and Aomine noticed how he turned away to press his lips to Aomine's calf again to hide the blush on his pale cheeks.

"I want you no matter what you're wearing." He heard himself say. "I just…" _really love how that looks on you,_ he wanted to say, but a very late wave of shame made him cut the thought short, his face burning when the attempted confession sank on him.

Kise didn't seem to note that, apparently busy enough fretting and drowning in his own embarrassment. "S-stupid, perverted Aominecchi." He squeaked, but there was no actual anger or any bite to it at all. He pulled his fingers out and spread his legs wider with his hands, nudging him to raise his hips a bit to grant better access. He didn't hesitate to comply, even as he started growing even more self-conscious about the position, Kise's eyes staring hotly at his most private areas. A moment later he was feeling the head of Kise' hot, hard cock pressing against his entrance, and he was all too aware of the feeling of the skirt's fabric falling on his inner thighs.

"O-oi, aren't you wearing a c-c-condom, Mr. Safe s-s-s-sex?" he asked, his voice embarrassingly high.

That gave Kise some pause, and he pulled back a little, which made Aomine regret he'd said anything. "Uhm, I thought, since I've tested myself and I'm clean, and I haven't been with anyone but Aominecchi for a while and… and Aominecchi's only ever been with me…" he seemed a little giddy about that last part and Aomine hated him for it, but also wanted to kiss him. With hate. "I thought it was okay to do it like this just…" he looked up, and Aomine met his molten gold eyes that were blazing with determination. "Just this once I want Aominecchi to _feel me_ for real."

Aomine swallowed, his heart heavy on his chest and his body burning with shame and want and something else he couldn't identify that was warm and pleasant but also felt like it was consuming his very soul. He schooled his breathing, never breaking eye contact, and allowed a deep exhale to leave his lips.

Then he nodded.

Kise beamed, a toothy grin growing on his lips. "You ready?"

"Get on with it." He grunted, hoping Kise couldn't hear the erratic beating of his heart, the anticipation thrumming in his blood.

Then he felt it, scorching hot and strained, and his breath got caught in his throat. He shut his eyes tight, trying to hold back an indecent moan. Kise was moving slowly, carefully, taking deep breathes to keep himself in check, and Aomine was silently grateful for that because he remembered how uncomfortable this part of the process was. Until he realized it didn't feel uncomfortable at all this time around. He winced when he felt Kise sinking his teeth on his shoulder, a grunt muffled against his skin.

"Hey?" he tried, tentatively, rocking his hips a little. Kise bit him harder, and Aomine could feel him vibrate with extremely restrained want. "You don't have to hold back so hard. I'm… fine. It doesn't hurt at all."

It was very strange to realize that he was actually feeling pretty good. Last time it had taken a little while to find the right position, the right tempo, the right angle to make things work for him. Now though, just feeling Kise throbbing inside him would send a shock of electricity up his spine, and it was all he could do to swallow an unmanly mewl of pleasure.

Kise looked at him with disbelief, his face red. "It's okay Aominecchi, you don't have to force yourself for me. It'll be pointless if I end up hurting you."

"That's what I'm… saying, damnit, I…" he arched his back, his body trembling when he felt the fabric of Kise's skirt graze his length, "Fuck, I feel…" he rocked his hips a little bit more insistently, taking more of Kise inside him, feeling himself tighten, the sensation so hot he thought he might melt. "Fuck it feels good…" another rock of his hips seemed to push Kise's cock in to hit on his best spot and he couldn't help the drawn out moan that left his lips. "It feels fucking good, you stupid, so get moving already." He managed to blabber, his vision already hazy with lust.

Instead of heeding the request immediately, Kise paused altogether and Aomine wanted to smack him, but his body was so sensitive right now he feared any movement that caused him to graze Kise's body in any capacity would make him scream. Instead he opened his mouth to say something, but rather than words, he heard himself moan when Kise finished burying himself inside him with a satisfying growl.

"I'm feeling so good too…" Kise drawled, peppering light kisses over his chest before he started moving in shallow thrusts. "Aominecchi's so amazing…"

They started moving together slowly, finding the perfect rhythm so easily it was unreal. The empty space in the room was quickly filled with the pleasure in their voices, the sound of skin against skin, the rustling of fabric.

Aomine tried to keep his eyes open and focused on Kise's figure, how beautiful his body looked with that simple piece of clothing on and nothing else. Every time the skirt grazed his body, his nerves lit up like fire. He arched his back and squeezed Kise's hand so tight he made him wince.

"For the love of… fuck!" he gasped. "Fuck, that's good… _fuck_. Go faster."

"Your wish is my command." The whisper in his ear made his body bend over with the shiver that shook him from head to toe. And then Kise picked up the pace of his thrusts, nailing that wonderful, sweet spot, and he screamed.

"It must be really nice," Kise panted, rocking his hips harder, the sound of skin slapping on skin growing louder. "To have someone that loves you so much and would go so far just to please you."

Aomine's blood ran cold. "W-what did you say?"

"I can only imagine it, of course, since I wouldn't know from experience." Kise's eyes became unfocused and empty. "There's no one that would love me this much."

Kise was still moving, but it didn't feel good anymore. This was wrong. Aomine's stomach started curling with dread and nausea.

"O-oi, wait, what're you talking about?"

"Well it's gotta feel really great, doesn't it? Otherwise you wouldn't put me through this knowing how much it hurts me." Crystal tears started to pool at the corners of his golden eyes. "That someone would surrender their entire being to you like this, their body and soul, and ask for nothing in return. That they'd lay their heart out for you to break in a million pieces without complaint. It's gotta be really satisfying at the very least. Especially for your ego."

"T-that's not…" his heart was so heavy in his chest, its weight was making him sink into the ground.

Kise thrust harder and moaned, his voice cracking. "Maybe you told yourself that these little gratifications would be enough for me."

He felt sick, sick.

"I didn't…"

"Maybe you were so busy feeling good, so good that you decided to pretend you didn't know I was hurting. But you knew. You always knew. It was just easier to act like you didn't and carry on feeling good."

Tears were streaming down Kise's face, but his lips were crooked in a twisted, soulless smile.

"Kise, n-no, wait I…"

He leaned down so their faces were mere inches apart, that broken smile alone enough to make Aomine freeze.

"So tell me, Aominecchi, does it? Does it feel _that_ good? Has it been worth it?"

He couldn't breathe, and he was sinking deeper, deeper. The closer Kise got, the harder it was to get any oxygen into his system. He opened his mouth but he couldn't speak anymore, his throat dry. Kise's tears were dripping on his face burning his skin, and yet feeling cold as ice.

"Tell me how it feels. Make the pain stop."

There was something curling tight, tight in the pit of his belly, something ugly and disgusting, something that was on the verge of overflowing, but Aomine didn't want it to. Kise was pulsing above him, inside him, everywhere, trembling and crying and laughing, his eyes completely vacant, his voice barely a whisper that sucked the life out of Aomine's mouth.

" _Why have you done this to me?"_

Kise moaned again, his voice hoarse and unrecognizable. Aomine felt him convulse, and his body started melting from the inside out, the disgusting feeling finally overcoming his own restraints and washing over him burning and freezing and painful, and he arched his back, feeling a scream tearing out of his chest.

His vision went dark.

 **To be continued**

See that's the reason it took me so long to finish this, because that fucking scene just got so weird and disturbing and dark that it was hard to push it out of my system orz why do I write myself into these fucking corners (at least I skillfully managed to avoid having to write another fucking basketball scene, yay!). Also because once again I had to split the chapter in two because it got so long (but that means the next one won't take long to get updated yay!)

Eternal thanks to thenochillchronicles, ilu and thanks for helping me sort through this mess and for making me think of Kise yelling "it's a miracle!" while staring at his perpetually stiff dick. Also thanks a ton to my patrons for your support, it seriously means the world to me.

The funny part is that even when he's having a sexual fantasy, Aomine is a ridiculous awkward virgin through and through. Like, he can't even imagine himself being the bold and confident sexlord the fandom makes him out to be lmao.

And apparently it's not a fic by me if it doesn't have gratuitous Kyoto porn just so I can explain Kyoto stuffs in my oversized author notes –which no one ever asked for.

Because Kyoto is a Traditional City™ it has a special legislation that says buildings can't be taller than a certain height (I can't remember what that height is) to preserve the city's skyline with the pagodas and mountains and stuff. The legislation was briefly abolished to build the monstrosity known as Kyoto Tower (I might be projecting onto Aomine here, but anyone with a pair of eyes can tell that shit's ugly as sin), but residents were so upset about losing the city's special feature it was quickly put back in place, they just increased the limit by like 10 meters or smth.

The 'zan' in Rakuzan is the kanji for mountain, and Kyoto is literally surrounded by fucking mountains, so I just assumed, I don't think we have canon confirmation of its specific location (but if it were on me, I'd put in the mountains of the Kinkakuji area. Hella terribly connected for a main touristic spot). Also Kyoto transportation is hella inefficient, especially if you live in the mountains (my dorms were in Kitayama area, the bus that got us downtown passed every half an hour if we were lucky) because the subway coverage is insufficient and buses are slow as fuck. Suzaku, the Crimson Phoenix of the South is one of the Four Mythical Beasts in Chinese mythology that protect the four cardinal directions, and the tradition around them was imported to Japan as early as the Yayoi and Kofun period (before Japan even learned how to write). Ho-Oh is based on the phoenix legend, not specifically Suzaku, but it seems Suzaku (and the other three beasts) are more prevalent in popular conscience, so I figured it'd make sense for Aomine to make that connection. Also, one of the most prestigious universities in Kyoto is Ritsumeikan University in the Suzaku neighborhood. I passed it every time I wanted to go downtown and the grandiose name stuck with me. I'm sorry for being a Kyoto nerd.

When I lived in Kyoto the Pokemon Center didn't exist there and I couldn't find any photos or references of how it looks from the outside other than it's in a shopping mall, so I made the rest up. And I could continue gushing Kyoto trivia forever (the matcha shop in Gion is called Tsujiri, 1000% recommend) but I'm gonna guess y'all are tired of that.

Thanks so much for your patience, and I hope this chapter doesn't weird you guys out too much. I'm a little scared but looking forward to reading your comments.


	14. In dreams the truth is learned

Aomine woke up breathless, his throat sore, cold sweat dripping down his face. He panted, eyes wide staring dead into the darkness of his room. He felt disgusting, and his stomach was so twisted he could almost taste the vomit at the back of his throat.

 _It was a nightmare. Just a fucking nightmare._

He shook his head, trying to get the images, the sounds, the feelings out of his head. It had been a nightmare and nothing else.

" _You were so busy feeling good, so good that you decided to pretend you didn't know I was hurting. But you knew."_

Except that it hadn't, not really. Because the Kise in his nightmare was right, he'd known all along that he was hurting him and pretended that he didn't because he hadn't known how to deal with it. He'd convinced himself that he could make Kise happy, even with his half-assed feelings, and became indulgent, too comfortable with laughing and touching and holding hands and kissing without having to think of the complicated stuff and stupidly hoping things would somehow work out on their own. But of course they hadn't, and all that was left was the bitter memory of Kise's tears and his hopeless, haunted expression.

"Fuck!"

He slammed his fist on the nightstand, wanting nothing but to throw up in hopes that these feelings of anger and frustration and disgust would leave him alone once he did. He regretted it for a moment, the last thing he needed was to awaken his parents and increase their worries, so he sat very still, letting the silence take over the room again. And when he did it, he heard the clattering sound of something small and plastic falling and bouncing off the floor. He was about to brush it off when he remembered what he'd actually put on his nightstand a few weeks ago.

He bolted out of bed to turn on the light, dread already crawling in his stomach.

 _It's not there._

His eyes scanned the floor in panic, finding nothing. He dropped to his hands and knees and searched under the desk, gritting his teeth, his heart thundering in his chest.

 _It's not here, fuck._

 _Fuck, fuck, no._

He reached with one hand under the nightstand and felt around, but there was nothing there.

 _I can't lose this too._

 _I can't._

 _It has to be here._

He reached out for his phone and attempted to unlock the screen to throw some light under his bed. Then he remembered the phone was still broken after he'd slammed it on the floor when he was on the train. Of course Mom hadn't gotten him a new one, so he had to stick with this one that was still good to receive phone calls and little more.

His limbs already stiff from that growing feeling of dread, he got back on his feet and forced himself to breathe while looking for a lamp. He was sure he had one somewhere.

 _It has to be here. It's in this room, it's not like there's a black hole on the floor. It's here, somewhere_.

The short pep-talk was barely comforting, and he resumed his search as frantically as before. He dropped to the floor again and felt around under his bed, to no avail. It was too dark to see if there was anything there, but he tried, squinting his eyes and reaching as far as he could with his arm, but he couldn't feel anything. He dug his teeth on his lower lip, his mind reeling, trying to find an answer, think of somewhere he hadn't looked.

 _It's the only thing I have left._

Out of pure, illogical desperation, he went to his closet and started fumbling with the clothes, absurdly hoping the item would magically drop from some pocket in which it had never been. He ran his hands through his hair, forcing his brain to work and think of something, and when that didn't produce results, he went to shuffle through his drawers. His hand bumped against a flashlight that for some reason was hidden among his underwear, and he'd never felt so grateful for his own negligence in organizing his room.

He rushed back to the bed and dropped to the ground, pointing the flashlight at the darkness. He reached out with his arm once again, feeling around the wooden boards and letting the light guide him until he saw the shadow of a small, misshapen object. His heart pulsing at the base of his throat, he grabbed it with his free hand. The moment his fingers closed around it, he recognized the shape and let go of a deep breathe. He pulled his arm back and pressed his closed fist to his chest as he sat up, letting the relief wash over him. He opened his palm to look at the Umbreon strap digging into his skin, and even felt a small smile pull at the corner of his lips. Absentmindedly he stroked the plastic Pokemon's ears with his thumb, but the moment he caught himself doing it, he felt awfully self-conscious and ridiculous, so he closed his fingers around it and stood up, trying to ignore the blush on his cheeks. After a moment of thought, he decided to place the strap on his bookshelf, choosing a visible spot with books he never really used, and far away from the edge so it wouldn't fall again. Once it was stable and safe, he turned off the lights and went back to the bed, completely exhausted from the frenzy.

Before lying down he took one more glance to the shelf, made sure he could make out the shadow of his Umbreon strap on the bookshelf, and finally allowed himself to fall back asleep, the voices of the nightmare slowly creeping up to haunt his dreams.

* * *

Aomine panted heavily. He was exhausted and they still had a full quarter and a half to go until the game was over. And they were losing. If this strategy didn't work, they would never be able to pick themselves back up. He glanced quickly at his side.

"I can't believe the day I have to double team someone with you is here." He drawled, hands on his hips, getting a grasp of the court and their current situation.

"No shit… life's real funny that way, I guess."

He sighed. "You better not drag me down."

Kise chuckled. "Wouldn't dream of it."

Aomine felt himself smirk. Even after what he'd just said, there was no one else he'd want by his side in this. His blood was pumping fast and hot with excitement through his body, he was high on adrenaline. He could hardly make out what was going on in the game, but their opponent was strong. Even with Kise's aid, it was hard to hold him back, but they were perfectly in synch, almost as if they could read each other's minds and it felt amazing. They didn't even need to talk or sign, Aomine knew where Kise needed him, and Kise knew what he had to do. It was as if they were the only ones on the court

"Hey, Aominecchi do you mind leaving him to me?" Kise asked suddenly.

Aomine looked at him, confused for a second, but when he saw the fire in his eyes, he knew. He hesitated. A part of him felt so alive playing with Kise, and he wanted to continue like that. A part of him hated the idea of what Kise wanted to do now, for a number of reasons. But a bigger part of him wanted to respect Kise's decision and what would be best for the game and the team.

"Fine, but we'll switch when it's time."

Kise grinned at him. "Woah, that's a first!" he sounded genuinely surprised

Aomine glared at him, but said nothing else and walked away. In the back of his mind he knew he was supposed to be doing something else, but in the real world, his eyes were locked on Kise, now struggling to handle alone the guy they could hardly stop together. Suddenly the rest of the game ceased to exist and it was only Kise fighting, moving, blocking, getting back the ball and stomping his way across the court, passing by faceless opponents that were no match for his might. Aomine felt entranced watching how Kise turned faster, stronger, more and more intense, his eyes sparking like lightning, as if he were laying his life itself on the court. He looked absolutely resplendent. The beat of Aomine's heart was deafening. Had Kise's basketball always been so magnificent? Had we always shone so bright and beautiful and majestic?

Suddenly, the ball fell from Kise's hands and he collapsed on the ground. The entire world disappeared. Aomine rushed to his side and helped him up to take him outside of the court and sit him on the bench.

"Oi, you alright?"

Kise smiled at him weakly. His face was red with exhaustion, his body drenched in sweat, and his skin was burning. His eyes looked unfocused, as if he was about to lose consciousness.

"'m okay Aominecchi… 'm sorry I couldn'… last longer."

Aomine shook his head and wiped the sweat off Kise's face with a clean cloth, although he wasn't entirely sure of where he'd gotten it. "Shut up, you moron. You were fucking amazing."

Kise's eyes widened, and his already flushed face turned a deeper crimson. "I… was?"

"The most amazing I've ever seen." Aomine replied, cupping Kise's face in his hands "Now leave the rest to me, okay?" and he leaned in to snatch a kiss that was short and quick and still made his heart burn, thrilled.

"A-aominecchi!" Kise whined, his face now a vibrant scarlet "Y-you're actually trying to make me faint, aren't you?"

Aomine smiled. "Well, you do need some rest after all." He teased, and kissed him one more time, softer, but longer, just enough to feel Kise leaning into it, and it was sweet and perfect. He didn't want to part, but the buzzer that marked the start of the last quarter was growing louder and louder. And for a second, when he pulled back, he could see Kise's bright and beautiful smile that made him feel invincible.

At least until he woke up to the loud ringing of his cellphone.

He picked up without checking who the caller was –his screen was still broken after all-, but he wasn't surprised in the slightest when he recognized Satsuki's voice on the other end of the line.

"Dai-chan, you promised you'd come over to study, you know they won't let you play in the In-High if your grades drop."

He groaned in displeasure and forced himself to get up, stretching his arms until his shoulders made a satisfying pop.

"Fine, I'll be there in five." He grunted and shut the phone off. What was even the point of having a sports scholarship if they were still giving him grief over fucking exams? It's not like he was planning on going to college anyway.

When he reached the door, he realized he wasn't carrying his textbooks, so he turned around to grab his school bag. His eyes caught on that stupid Umbreon strap which he'd put in his bookshelf, far from the edge, to make sure the bloody thing wouldn't get knocked over again. He quickly told his dad that he'd probably have dinner at Satsuki's place and left.

Satsuki's doorstep was approximately ten steps away from his. He faintly remembered how the distance had felt so much longer when he was younger. The day Satsuki had moved in, his parents had told him the new neighbors had a kid, so he'd been very excited about making a new friend and getting them to play basketball with him. He'd grabbed his basketball and sprinted all the way to the neighbor's house, that still had the front door open and people coming in and out, carrying boxes. He'd taken a peek inside, but instead of a boy his age, there had been Satsuki with her blue dress and girly shoes and he'd been disappointed.

" _Hello! Are you from this neighborhood? My name's Satsuki!_ " she'd greeted him with a big bold smile.

" _Daiki_." He'd replied, frowning. " _Don't you have like a brother or something_?"

She shook her head. " _Nope. Why_?"

Aomine had frowned and turned away, intent on getting back home and watching TV instead, but she stopped him in his tracks.

" _What's that? Oh! It's a basketball! I saw a court closeby, wanna play_?"

" _I dun' wanna play with girls."_ He'd replied, annoyed.

The moment he spoke the words, he'd felt a dangerous aura coming from his back, and when he turned around, he found Satsuki grinning, a fearsome sparkle in her eyes. " _Really? Are you afraid you'll lose to a girl?_ "

An idiot as he was, he fell right into it. " _Hah?! Fine, if you want to lose so badly we can play, but don't go crying to your Mommy afterwards."_

Satsuki had giggled and skipped out of the house. _"I won't have to, because I'll win! Let's go, Dai-chan!"_

" _Oi! Don't call me that!"_

She hadn't stopped calling him that.

The front door was unlocked, so he came in without knocking –he had spare keys anyway (and Satsuki had his, but she was "not an uncivilized baboon", as she'd put it)- and kicked his shoes off, grabbing a pair of slippers Satsuki's mom had gotten him last year so he could wear them when he came to visit.

"Oh, hi Dai-kun! You hadn't come in a while!" Satsuki's mom greeted him. "Ah, I suppose it's time to study for exams, right? Satsuki is in her room, I'll bring you two tea and some snacks later."

He forced himself to smile. "Thanks Oba-san, I'm going up then." Satsuki's parents had always been very kind to him after all, they were like a second family to him.

The door to Satsuki's room was open, but he did knock this time because he didn't want to get an earful about his "brutish manners".

"Jesus, Dai-chan, why do I have to be the one that's worrying about _your_ exams? I'm not your babysitter."

He grunted something unintelligible (he himself wasn't very sure of what it'd been) and plopped down on the work desk. His mind was still on that dream, how thrilled he'd felt playing with Kise by his side, and what an absolutely magnificent sight Kise had been. When was the last time he'd played with Kise, on the same team, and felt his blood pump with exhilaration like that? Two, maybe three years ago? He recalled the day Kise joined his team, and how others had dissed Kise because his skills were so similar to Haizaki's, but Aomine had noticed back then just how different they both were. Kise felt true passion for basketball and always gave it his best to impress everyone. Back then he'd thought Kise was annoying and noisy, but he'd also known right away that Kise would be fun to play with, and looked forward to sharing the court with him. The exhilaration he'd felt in the dream, the sensation of the ball on his fingers, the urge to move faster, harder, the noise of the adrenaline pumping through his veins, even the sound of Kise's agitated breathing, all rushed to the front of his mind, and he felt his body temperature increasing, an immense urge to do something, anything, to bring that dream to reality, to feel such intense euphoria again.

"Dai-chan are you even listening to me? I'm helping you study, not doing your homework for you!"

He snapped back to the present, where Satsuki was glaring at him, her arms crossed over her chest. She opened her mouth, probably to continue berating him, but he cut her off before she could do that.

"Sorry, got my head elsewhere."

She seemed taken aback by his apology, which was understandable given how rarely he served one of those, but he felt he owed her at least that much. She'd tried to warn him before things had turned sour, and even now she was worrying about him, trying her best to support him and giving him space to sort shit out on his own instead of yelling at him for doing stupid things and hurting Kise. He really needed to stop taking the people he loved for granted.

After a moment of silence, Satsuki sighed and got up. "I'm gonna go help Mom with the tea, you should take the time to check over the textbook to get your head back into Maths." She paused on her way to the door, then looked back at him, pensive, tapping her chin with her index. "I have the newest Basketball Monthly on my shelf over there, you should take it home and check it, it has good intel on the teams we can expect to face at the Inter High." She said, pointing at said bookshelf and exiting through the door.

Aomine cocked his head to the side, slightly confused. Why'd he be interested in checking other teams? That was Satsuki's work, not his. Besides, he already knew which teams they'd be facing in the prelims: there was Seirin with Tetsu and Bakagami and the perfect chance to get back for their loss in the Winter Cup. And there was also Midorima, whom he hadn't played against at all, and he was very excited to actually experience that freaky combo play he and his Point Guard had used on Akashi.

" _Midorimacchi and Takaocchi are so disgustingly cute together, only a blind man wouldn't notice!"_

Of course he couldn't even spare a thought to any of his friends because Kise had to come and haunt him. He decided he'd take Satsuki's suggestion and scooted over to the bookshelf to start browsing through the Basketball Monthly magazines. When he found the newest issue, he pulled it out, but everything was so tightly fit into the shelf that a bunch of magazines fell to the floor. Aomine hurried to pick them up –the last thing he wanted was to get on Satsuki's bad side after all. As he scrambled to reorganize them, one of the covers caught his eye, and he immediately regretted trying to check the magazine in the first place when he found an issue with Kise winking at the camera and holding a basketball up on his index finger, the words "All about Kaijou's model ace" printed on top of his jersey. He grunted. It had been naïve to think he'd get his mind off Kise by looking at fucking magazines of all things.

He fully intended to put that back on its place, but before he knew it he was staring at it, flipping through the pages to find the interview with Kise. It was just a one-page article, so Aomine seriously doubted it could actually contain "everything" about him (especially because there was just so much to Kise that people tended to miss so easily), but he skimmed over the questions before he could stop himself.

 _Basketball Monthly: The Winter Cup is coming up, do you think your team is ready for the challenge?"_

 _Kise: "Absolutely! We've never been stronger!"_

 _BM: "Which team are you most looking forward to facing?"_

 _K: "Touou of course! We've to pay them back for the Inter-High, after all."_

 _BM: "I definitely understand that feeling. So, Touou's ace Aomine-kun was your teammate back in junior high, right?"_

 _K: "Yup."_

 _BM: "How is it playing on opposite sides of the court now?"_

 _K: "It's super exciting! Aominecchi's super strong, he's the best rival I could ever ask for. I always have fun playing with him, be it on the same team or on different ones."_

 _BM: "Oh, so you two are still friends now?"_

 _K: "To tell the truth, we don't meet much outside of basketball, but all of my teammates from back then are still precious friends for me, even if we've all gone our separate ways."_

Aomine sighed, and he glanced at the photos on the article. The main one was a close-up of Kise taking a shot, his body long and lean, and his eyes fixed on the net. There was also another photo, smaller, that looked like it had been taken during their match at the Inter-High, with the caption " _Aomine's the best rival I could ever ask for."_ He swallowed thickly, his pulse quickening, and he felt the skin of his face turning warm.

He shut the magazine closed and resumed his task of putting everything back in place. But once again, when he was trying to do that, his eyes were caught by another magazine with a flash of gold on the cover. Except this one wasn't Basketball Monthly, it was a fashion magazine. He grabbed it and found another, and another magazine with Kise on the cover. There were dozens of them! He'd never known Satsuki collected these. He opened one and flipped through the pages until he found an ad for perfume which featured a close-up of Kise apparently lying on his stomach on a red velvet surface, the collar of his black shirt rustled, and his deep golden eyes bright like molten ambers. He felt a pang of pain in his chest and a jolt of something else under his belt. He forced himself to look away when he started to feel his cheeks burning, and when he was about to grab the next magazine, he heard Satsuki's light footsteps coming down the hallway. Hurriedly, he grabbed a random bunch of Basketball Monthly and hid the fashion magazines in between, then did his best to act like he was casually flipping through an article about Seirin's victory in the Winter Cup, hoping the heat on his cheeks wouldn't give him away.

"Mom sent tea and cookies, but try not to get crumbs all over the textbooks, okay?" Satsuki instructed, laying down a tray with the items on the center of their study table.

"Sure, sure." He managed to reply, and he was confident he'd sounded natural. "Hey," he began, his voice quivering, "can I take some of these home? You know, to study their strategies and shit." He showed her a page with a picture of Kagami and Tetsu high-fiving, hoping she wouldn't notice the uneven edges of the non-basketball magazines.

Satsuki was silent for a moment, and when Aomine turned to look at her, she had a strange, knowing glint in her cherry eyes. "Sure, Dai-chan! I'm glad to see you take some initiative here!" she said with a smile that meant way more than what she was saying, but he didn't know why. "You better take care of them, if you wrinkle Tetsu-kun's photos I'll gut you!"

Aomine still felt uneasy about her tone, but decided not to question his luck and hurried to put the magazines in his backpack, just so nothing embarrassing would happen later. With a strange sense of anticipation and accomplishment, he turned to the textbook, pencil in hand.

"Okay,okay, but can we stop getting distracted and get to study already?"

Satsuki rolled her eyes and smiled.

* * *

Hours later, after Satsuki had been absolutely certain that those algebra formulas had been carved into his brain, Aomine finally made it back to his own bedroom, and his first impulse was to empty his backpack on his bed, the magazines spreading out over the bedsheets. He put the Basketball Monthlies away, lucid enough to not want to risk getting on Satsuki's bad side, and then, with trembling fingers, he grabbed a magazine that had Kise on the cover, wearing sunglasses on top of his messy golden hair, a loose dark blue tank top with a bronze anchor printed on it, and white jean shorts. His right hand was making a peace sign over his head, while he held a surfing board under his left arm. The big blue letters read "Don't get cold this summer! Hottest trends for the holidays!"

Aomine plopped down to lie on his back on the mattress, the magazines piled next to him, and he held the summer cover high over his head, staring straight into Kise's eyes that sparkled with excitement, as if he were genuinely looking forward to his summer vacations. The photo really was so like Kise it was uncanny. All bright and sunny and joyful with the smallest hint of mischief in the corners of his golden eyes. It was almost infectious, and Aomine felt the pull of a smile on the edges of his mouth.

Then the realization hit him; that he'd just stolen magazines from his childhood friend just because he wanted to look at picture of his… best friend? Best rival? Ex-friend? Ex-friend-with-benefits? Ex-never-quite-boyfriend?

Something heavy dropped on his chest, crushing the air out of him in a shaky exhale.

Ex-could-have-been?

* * *

Aomine was awakened by the blinding light of the sun shining through the windows. Why did he always forget to shut the curtains?

It took him a few moments of rubbing his eyes to be able to focus his vision, but before he could completely make out the world around him, he heard a soft humming, something shifting next to him on the bed, inching closer and warmer. Finally, he managed to clear the fog off his eyes and turned to his side to find Kise lying on his stomach, sleeping soundly, his golden hair falling over his eyes and a peaceful smile on his lips. Every time he inhaled and exhaled, the bedsheets that covered his naked torso would rustle softly, almost as if caressing his beautiful skin.

He inched a little bit closer, close enough to feel Kise's breath on his face, his warmth seeping into his body all the way to his bones. He lifted one hand to tuck away a soft strand of golden hair, just so he could get a clear view of Kise's delicate features, his long eyelashes, the sharp edges of his eyes, the subtle slope of his nose; and he allowed his fingers to linger, just barely grazing Kise's cheek. His expression was relaxed and pleasant, as if there were nothing to be worried about in the entire world. When Aomine saw that look on his face, he felt that it might actually be the case after all.

The sun that illuminated the room kissed Kise's body gently, and it almost seemed that he was glowing. It wasn't the first time he'd seen Kise surrounded by a halo of sunlight, but he was still entirely mesmerized by the ethereal vision.

"Hey," he whispered, absentmindedly grazing Kise's cheek with his thumb. "Mornin', Sunshine."

A sigh escaped Kise's lips and his eyes fluttered open, revealing his golden orbs, hazy with sleep. When his vision focused on Aomine, he smiled sweet and beautiful, leaning into the hand on his cheek. His skin was flushed a soft, joyful pink, and when Aomine's eyes met his, he found them overflowing with tenderness and affection.

"Morning, Daiki."

His heart skipped a beat when Kise spoke his name, the sound of it echoing in his ears, his chest, his stomach and his very soul. He pulled Kise a little closer still, overtaken by the need to hold him, to kiss every breath out of him, to whisper in his ear how beautiful he was, how much he treasured him.

Kise didn't say anything else, but his loving smile grew wider, brighter, merrier, the corners of his eyes crinkling with unbridled mirth. The sight became so radiant it was blinding, and Aomine had to close his eyes for a second, lest he became literally blind from staring for too long.

And when he opened them again, the bed was cold and empty, and he was alone and awake with just the glaring sunlight hitting him square on the face.

"Oh, Daiki, I was just about to call you for breakfast." His father greeted him with a handwave. "Your mom's in the living room, could you tell her to come too while I finish setting the table?"

He shrugged absentmindedly as an answer and went straight for the living to find his mother sitting in the coach, reading a magazine and humming pleasantly.

"Dad says breakfast is done." he drawled, forcing his voice to sound as normal as possible.

His mom looked up from the magazine, and for a second Aomine felt there was something familiar about it, but shoved the thought away because he and his mom didn't have anything in common in terms of the magazines they read.

"Daiki! What a surprise that you actually woke up on your own, and so early! On a Sunday!"

It was obvious that she was forcing herself to act more cheerful than necessary, so he too forced a smile on his face, hoping it would put her at ease, even as his heart clenched remembering the dream that had awakened him.

"Oh, I actually found this under the shoeboxes when I was sweeping the genkan, do you think Satsuki-chan dropped it here maybe?" she asked suddenly, showing him the cover of the magazine she'd been reading. Aomine's heart leapt in his chest when he made out the figure on the cover. "It had some dust on it, like it'd been there for a few weeks or so. It seems to be autographed so it must be valu—"

Before he could stop himself, he'd snatched the magazine from his mother's hand. "I-I'm gonna call Satsuki and ask her!" he excused weakly as he ran up the stairs. "I'll eat later, I'm not really hungry!" he added as a response to his mother's alarmed voice reminding him of breakfast.

He locked the door behind his back and sat down on the bed, his eyes fixated on the magazine cover, remembering how much he'd wanted it since the moment he first saw it in the rack of that conbini in Landmark Plaza. Still, he hesitated to open it, Kise's seductive eyes on the cover felt almost accusatory, a reminder of how he'd ruined not only their date and whatever their relationship had been at that point, but probably even the core of their friendship.

He shook his head, trying to clear it off the negative thoughts and skipped to a random page in the magazine. There was an article about a popular singer and her fashion choices for some important event that Aomine couldn't care less about. He breathed deeply and steeled his determination. He'd been beating himself up about losing this magazine for weeks, regretting how he'd never get to read Kise's message. Now he could do it and more than ever, he needed to feel a connection with Kise, anything to believe there was still hope to fix things.

It wasn't hard to find the page with Kise's article, even just randomly flipping through the magazine. His golden hair popped up right away. The first photo had him wearing the same outfit that he had on the cover, but he was sitting with one leg bent at the knee and the other stretched long. He had a mysterious, yet playful smile and he was lightly touching his lips with his index finger. He looked stunning. Aomine's heart lurched in his chest.

He skimmed through the interview, but it was mostly the same answers he had read in the magazines he'd borrowed from Satsuki, with additional noncommittal responses about his time off modeling.

On the second page, there was a photo of Kise wearing a pair of faded green denim cargo pants with a matching jacker that was fully buttoned down, and a black button-up shirt underneath. He was leaning against a wall, hands in his pockets, head cocked back a little with a daring attitude and Aomine wouldn't have thought much about it aside from how Kise looked stunning as always, but there was a caption in big white letters that read "Exclusive scoop! Kise-kun discusses his love life." His eyes widened and he quickly found the questions, heart pounding hard against his ribcage.

 _N: So far you've done a good job in doing both modeling and practicing with the basketball team, is there any other reason for this break you're taking? Like a girlfriend, perhaps?_

 _K: (laughs) Oh no, not at all! It really is about basketball, I mean business this year, I want Kaijou to take all the championship!_

 _N: Is that so? Still, is there not a person that has a special place in Kise Ryouta's heart?_

 _Kise-kun looked a little reluctant to answer this question for us, but we just had to know, right?_

 _K: There is someone that's very important to me. I've admired them for a long time and I owe them a lot in many different ways. I'm always happy when I'm with that person._

 _N: Oh? So is Kise-kun enjoying the lovey-dovey life now?_

 _K: Ah, no, that's not it at all. It's completely unrequited, but it's fine. Even if they won't return my feelings, as long as I get to spend time with that person, I'm fully satisfied."_

 _N: Awww, that's really sweet. Wouldn't you tell us who this lucky special person is?_

 _K: I'm sorry, that's a secret._

 _Kise-kun winked at us and wouldn't budge about revealing the identity of his secret—_

Aomine chewed on his lip and almost threw the magazine away. He could even picture it, Kise saying he was happy just being with him, wearing a sunny smile with that little hint of resigned sadness in his eyes. It was so typical of him, to give up on his own feelings and settle for a second serving and Aomine hated that about him. Hated that he wouldn't pursue his own happiness, never even confronted Aomine about how shittily he'd handled their situation. If only Kise had been a little more selfish, maybe this whole thing wouldn't have gone so wrong.

Heart heavy in his chest, he flipped to the last page, where he saw Kise's distinctively flourished handwriting next to a two-page spread of him wearing an asymmetrical denim jacket on top of a simple white shirt, his eyes smouldering and defiant, yet inviting. The text was easy to read in its bold black strokes:

 _To my #1 fan Aominecchi! Remember I'm gonna beat you next time, so better bring your A-game, make it worth all this glamour I'm giving up (lol)! Love, Ryouta._

"Ryouta" he mouthed the name, feeling his heart ache. He felt like laughing and crying because it was the dumbest of notes but he couldn't help picturing Kise's radiant, cheeky grin and his chipper voice and how he would've wanted to kiss him just to shut him up and make him laugh.

* * *

Aomine took a bite from his teriyaki burger, chewing it slowly. It was small and he wouldn't have anything else to eat before dinner, so he wanted to savor it. It was cheap and conbini-bought, so it wasn't half as good as the Mos Burger one, but it was still pretty great. Teriyaki burger was certainly _the_ superior burger, no questions asked.

"Ugh, the other day I had the most stupid discussion with Bakagami about this." He groaned, more to himself than to his companion, but loud enough to be heard and attract his curious glance. He sighed and caved. "Like, he was at Majiba because that's apparently the only thing he eats, and he had like a billion BBQ burgers." He couldn't begin to fathom what kind of idiot with no sense of taste whatsoever would prefer anything over the teriyaki burger. "Who does that?! That shit's gross! Who chooses that when you could have the double teri for about the same price?!"

As he swallowed the last bite of his burger, he had a sense of déjá vú about this whole conversation, something dreadfully familiar, but he couldn't quite understand why. He shook that feeling off and carried on.

"But then I figured Bakagami's an idiot so I'd have to explain all those basic shit to him, and then out of nowhere Tets—"

Then it hit him.

He turned to his right to find Kise staring at him frozen on his spot, his face devoid of color, his eyes wide and glazy, his expression twisted with pain and betrayal. Aomine panicked.

"Wait, shit, Kise, I'm sorry."

Kise's expression didn't change. "I-I've to go home now." He breathed, and turned his back to him. "Bye, Aomine." And he started walking away and into the crowd.

Aomine's heart sank to the ground, and he ran, pushing the droves of people off his way, Kise's bright golden hair still sticking out from the distance. He had to stop him.

He reached out, trying to grab Kise's arm, to keep him from going away.

He couldn't let him leave. Not this time.

"Kise, wait!"

He could feel a tight knot constricting his throat, making it hard to breathe and speak. But he had to stop this, right now. Yet, no matter how hard he ran, Kise kept pulling farther and farther away.

His chest was burning, his heart throbbed painfully.

"Kise, I…!"

He could feel the words dripping out of his heart, trying to climb their way up his throat and out of his mouth, but they burned like fire and cut like glass shards and he couldn't find his voice.

But he also felt he'd regret it the rest of his life if he didn't say it now.

" _I love you_."

The whole world fell silent. The crowds that surrounded them disappeared. Kise stopped dead on his tracks and slowly turned to look at him. Aomine covered his mouth with one hand, not believing what he'd just said. His blood was pumping furiously through his body, and his skin was on fire. Had he really just…?

Suddenly, Kise was standing just a breath away, even though a moment ago it had seemed as if the distance between them was unsurmountable. Aomine met his golden eyes, scared of what he'd find there, and what he found was bewilderment and confusion.

Then Kise's eyebrows tilted downwards, and his whole expression turned into one of pity.

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry Aominecchi." He began, playing with his hair nervously. "Did I… did anything I say make you think that…? Damn, I'm really sorry, I never intended to lead you on like that…"

"What… what are you talking about?"

Kise's expression turned even sadder and remorseful. "Oh god, please don't make me actually say it… Aominecchi…" he sighed, burying his face in his palms. "I really don't wanna hurt you…"

Aomine could feel his heart growing heavy and sinking in his chest, already guessing _what_ was happening, but still entirely confused about _why_ it was happening.

"But you… we've…"

"The entire _point_ of being friends with benefits is that there are no feelings involved, I thought we'd agreed on that from the start." Kise's shame seemed to be morphing into irritation, and he looked up, a slight frown growing on his face, his eyes turning cold. "Fine, I'll say it if you won't get it. I don't feel that way about you. Never have."

Aomine heard a loud, deafening crack echoing inside his chest. The pain was sharp, piercing, and so deep he couldn't even scream. When he tried to breathe, it was agonizing, like his lungs were filled with ice. He could hardly focus his vision on anything, but Kise's silhouette, once again walking away from him and never looking back. And this time Aomine didn't – _couldn't-_ chase after him.

He woke up feeling his chest completely hollow. Breathing was as painful as it had been in the dream. His eyes were burning, but every other inch of his body felt cold and heavy. He somehow managed to force himself up to a sitting position, and when he did, he remembered the words he'd said, could still feel them burning in his throat, taste them even. He shivered. With one hand, he covered his mouth, trying to make any sense of what had just happened, of this turbulence of painful emotions swirling in his chest.

An image of Kise's remorseful expression flashed through his mind, just as the sound of his own voice speaking those words echoed inside him. The burn in his eyes turned wet, and he felt a tear spill down his cheek. And another. Something heavy and painful creeped up his body, choking him, and came out of his mouth as a long, broken sob that wrecked his body as if it were being shattered to pieces.

 **To be continued**

Whoops that took way longer and ended way more melidramatic than originally planned. Last semester was very hard on me, but I can't say I have any proper excuse for the last three months other than the muse abandoned me and my heart being swallowed up by other fandoms coughYurionIcecough.

I'm pretty certain we only have two more chapters to go but I can't promise how long updates will take. I'm truly sorry for my erratic and unreliable posting schedule and I thank whoever's still following this story in spite of this. I do hope you're still enjoying it.


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